Achy Obejas
Achy Obejas | |
---|---|
Born | Havana, Cuba | June 28, 1956
Occupation | Novelist, journalist |
Nationality | Cuban, American |
Notable works | Days of Awe |
Notable awards | Lambda Literary Awards (x2) |
Website | |
www |
Achy Obejas (born June 28, 1956) is a
Obejas practices activism through writing, by telling her own story about her identity, as well as others. The anthology Immigrant Voices: 21st Century Stories, written in collaboration with Megan Bayles, is a collection of stories that seeks to describe the experience of people who have emigrated to America. While most anthologies focus on one group, this anthology expands the perspective to multiple group identities.[3][4]
Personal life
Obejas was born June 28, 1956, in
Nationality
At the age of 39, Obejas revisited Cuba. Reflections on her home country are dispersed throughout her work, such as in the story collection
I was born in Havana and that single event has pretty much defined the rest of my life. In the U.S., I'm Cuban, Cuban-American, Latina by virtue of being Cuban, a Cuban journalist, a Cuban writer, somebody's Cuban lover, a Cuban dyke, a Cuban girl on a bus, a Cuban exploring Sephardic roots, always and endlessly Cuban. I'm more Cuban here than I am in Cuba, by sheer contrast and repetition.[7]
Sexuality
Obejas identifies as a lesbian and frequently references sexuality in her writing. Although she often writes about her characters' struggles with sexuality and family acceptance, in an interview with Chicago LGBT newspaper Windy City Times, she said she did not experience significant family problems because of her sexuality:
Remember, Cuba was known as the brothel of the Caribbean prior to the revolution. People went to Cuba to do the things they couldn't do in their home countries, but were free to do there. So Cubans have a sort of thick skin to most sexual stuff, which is not to say that my parents did, but as a general rule in the environment and the culture, there's a lot more possibility. I never had any sense of shame or anything like that.
On a personal level, Obejas says she always accepted her sexual identity as part of herself:
In terms of my own sexuality, I don't know what it was, but I just never blinked. I was always amazed when other people did; I was always sort of flabbergasted when people would suffer angst about it. I understood that it was taboo and all of that, but I chalked it up as a kind of a generational problem.[8]
Career
She earned an M.F.A from
In 2008, she translated
Obejas has written the novels Ruins, Memory Mambo and Days of Awe, and the story collection We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? as well as the poetry chapbook This is What Happened in Our Other Life. A collection of short stories, "The Tower of Antilles & Other Stories" was published by Akashic in 2017.
In 2021, she released the widely praised Boomerang/Bumerán through Beacon Press, a non-gendered collection of poetry in English and Spanish addressing immigration, activism and other issues.
In a reflection on Obejas' work, Latina comedian Lisa Alvarado says of the writer, "Her work exudes a keen sense of humor, of irony, of compassion and is laced with the infinite small moments that make her poetry and her novels sing with the breath of real life."[9]
Journalism
Throughout her career, Obejas has worked for many different publications, including the . Currently, she contributes to the New York Times.
As a Chicago Tribune columnist for nearly ten years, Obejas penned the nightlife column "After Hours". The column started when then-Friday section editor Kevin Moore asked the self-described insomniac if she would like to cover nighttime entertainment for the paper. In 2001, Obejas announced that she would no longer write the column.[10]
Works
Novels
- Memory Mambo (1996)
- Days of Awe (2001)
- Ruins (2009)
Collections
- We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?(1994) (stories)
- This Is What Happened In Our Other Life (2007) (poems)
- The Tower of the Antilles (2017) (stories)
Other
- Havana Noir (2007) (translator and editor)
- La Breve y Maravillosa Vida de Oscar Wao (2008) (translator)
- "Immigrant Voices: 21st Century Stories" (2014) (co-editor with Megan Bayles)
- Papi by Rita Indiana (2016) (translator)
- Boomerang / Bumerán (poetry) (2021)
Awards
Obejas has received a Pulitzer Prize for her work in a Chicago Tribune team investigation,[11] the Studs Terkel Journalism Prize, several Peter Lisagor journalism honors, and two Lambda Literary awards.[12]
She has also been a National Endowment for the Arts fellow in poetry and served residencies at Yaddo, Ragdale and McDowell, among others.
In 2010 she was inducted into the
In 2014, she was awarded a USA Ford Fellowship for literature and translation.[14]
See also
- List of Cuban American writers
- List of LGBT writers
References
- ^ Textor, Lauren (October 11, 2006), "A Cuban American writer on her identity", The Daily Pennsylvanian, archived from the original on September 20, 2008, retrieved March 25, 2009
- S2CID 149030062.
- ^ Tierra, Tatiana (April 5, 1995). "Achy Obejas: 'All the Way from Cuba'". Deneuve. 5: 38–39 – via MLA International Bibliography with Full Text.
- ^ Kurdi, Soran (2015). "Immigrant Voices: 21 st Century Stories ed. by Achy Obejas and Megan Byles (review)". Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association. 69: 109–111 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b Contemporary Authors Online Thomson Gale, 2006.
- ^ "We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?". achyobejas.com. 2014. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ Gregg Shapiro, "In 'AWE': Achy Obejas on her new work", Windy City Times, August 8, 2001.
- ^ Tracy Baim, "Achy Obejas Talks About Cuba, Books and Sexuality", Windy City Times, January 2, 2008.
- ^ "Achy Obejas, Renaissance Woman, Cuban Style", La Bloga, February 27, 2009.
- ^ Obejas, Achy (March 16, 2001). "It's Been An Enjoyable Gig". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ "Outspoken Cuban-American writer Achy Obejas to address IU community for Hispanic Heritage Month", Indiana University, September 22, 2009.
- ^ "About Achy Obejas", Gender & Women's Studies Program, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago.
- ^ "Inductees to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame". Archived 2015-10-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "2014 United States Artists Fellows".
External links
- Official site
- Marika Preziuso (October 2010). "Interview with Achy Obejas" sx salon. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
- Otium