Judith Ortiz Cofer: Understanding A Writer

Judith Ortiz Cofer: Understanding a Writer

Judith Ortнz Cofer was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico in 1952. She was raised on the island and in Paterson, New Jersey, before her family finally settled in Augusta, Georgia. She received her B.A. in English from Augusta College in 1974, and her M.A. in English from Florida Atlantic University, and did graduate school at Oxford University in 1977 (Judith). Her collections of poetry include The Year of Our Revolution: New and Selected Stories and Poems (1998), winner of the Paterson Book Prize given by the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College; The Latin Deli: Prose & Poetry (1993), winner of the Anisfield Wolf Book Award; Terms of Survival (1989), Reaching for the Mainland (1987), and Latin Women Pray (1980) (Judith).

Cofer is also the author of essays. Her young adult book, An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio (1996) has received The American Library Association Reforma Pura Belpre Medal and the Fanfare Best Book of the Year award. Other books that Cofer has written are The Line of the Sun, Silent Dancing, Woman in Front of the Sun- On Becoming a Writer, and The Line of the Sun (Miguela). Cofer's awards and honors include grants from the Georgia Council for the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts for poetry, the University of Georgia Humanities Center, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, The Florida Fine Arts Council, and the Janet Rice Memorial Fellowship from Florida Atlantic University. She is currently the Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia, and an associate staff member of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference (Judith).

One example of Cofer's work that I'm going to share is called, "Silent Dancing." Judith Ortiz Cofer's "Silent Dancing" is a story about her life in the United States as a Puerto Rican. She explains the discrimination against her family, along with racial prejudice. She lived in the El Building, a building that houses many foreigners. She and her family did not become involved with the Americans due to racial discrimination. It was also against her father's wishes. Her family found happiness in visiting the line of shops near their street because they had kind-hearted clerks (pg. 96). Cofer's hope is that one-day things will change, and maybe one day she could win some respect for herself, and her culture. One New Year's eve, Cofer's family made a home video. The video, which is a recording of her family dancing, has a great meaning to Cofer's dream. The lack of music in the video adds significance of the sadness, the depression and the discrimination in her life.

While skimming through another book by Cofer, Woman in Front of the Sun--On Becoming a Writer, I was able to get an idea of what this book is about. This book tells the story of how she became a poet and a writer. A collection of essays, poems and folktales, this book brings together Judith as a writer with memories of growing up as a Puerto Rican in Patterson, New Jersey and how her life experiences contributed to her inspiration to write (Woman in Front of the Sun pg.155-156). The influences of the island her parents left behind, the Catholic Church, as well as the emerging women's movement where an inspiration for her work in Woman in Front of the Sun. This is not only an autobiography; it is an argument of why she has answered the call to write, and the struggles with self, that she as a writer has faced. She encourages women to look for a life of truth, no matter the circumstances. She reveals some of her imagination and passion for writing. From Woman in Front of the Sun is a sample of Judith Ortiz Cofer's writing:

What I'm trying to say is that the phenomenon we call culture in a society is organic, not manufactured. It grows where we plant it. Culture is our garden, and we may neglect it, trample on it, or we may choose to cultivate it. In America we are dealing with varieties we have imported, grafted, and cross-pollinated. I can only hope the experts who say that the land is replenished in this way we are right. It is the on going American experiment, and it has to take root in the classroom first. If it doesn't succeed, then we will be back to praying and hoping that at least He be bilingual.

When you read this you can understand from the context that she is very involved and supports her culture and surroundings. I find the fact that someone takes so