Judith Ortiz Cofer  

Thursday, January 15, 2009
1:40 p.m.
NEIU Recital Hall
Free to the public.

Poet, novelist, essay writer, and educator Judith Ortiz Cofer embodies a transcultural experience shared by many Latinos living in the United States today.

Born in Puerto Rico, the author spent her childhood traveling between her parents’ home in Paterson, New Jersey and her maternal grandmother's house in Puerto Rico.

Judith Ortiz Cofer is currently Regents' and Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia. She lives in Georgia with her husband, John Cofer, a fellow educator.

The NEIU Library is pleased to carry many works by Judith Ortiz Cofer, from fiction and poetry to educational streaming videos. Please visit the NEIU Library Catalog for a complete listing.

The Meaning of Consuelo

Call Number: One copy ordered as of 12-11-08

This novel centers around Consuelo, whose coming-of-age story reflects the changing social mores of 1950's Puerto Rico. Bright and bookish, Consuelo must navigate the transition into womanhood through her parents' failing marriage and her younger sister's budding mental illness.

The Latin Deli: Prose and Poetry

Call Number: PS3565R7737 L371993

This collection of stories, essays, and poems explores the immigrant experience through the women of El Building, a Puerto Rican community in New Jersey. Characters include a grieving mother whose son died in Vietnam, a widow who runs the Latin deli at the heart of the neighborhood, and Cofer herself as she remembers her youth on the island.

Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood

Call Number: PS3565R7737 Z4771990

Cofer describes her bicultural upbringing in this collection of essays and poems. Shuffled between her parents' apartment in Paterson, New Jersey and the Puerto Rican pueblo of her grandmother, "Mama," Cofer identifies with two cultures even as she realizes that she can never fully belong to either world.

Terms of Survival: Poems

Call Number: PS3565.R7737 T4 1995

Cofer returns to her Latina heritage and the new immigrant experience in these collections of poetry. Her language is warm, unpretentious, and vivid.

An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio

Call Number: CMC. PZ7O765 IS1995

In these twelve stories, Cofer depicts teenagers caught between their Puerto Rican heritage and their American surroundings. The Latino experience colors the characters' struggles with dating, body image, and generational conflicts.