Issue No. 14 of the Hostos Review: Gestures of Memory: Seven Latin American/Latina Women Writers of Jewish Origin in the U.S.

Marjorie Agosín, Magali Alabau, Ruth Behar, Alicia Borinsky, Carlota Caulfield, Susana Chávez-Silverman, and Achy Obejas are the seven writers featured in issue No. 14 of Hostos Review/Revista Hostosiana, published by the Latin American Writers Institute of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York.

Entitled, Gestures of Memory: Seven Latin American/Latina Women Writers of Jewish Origin in the U.S., this Spanish and English issue has been guest-edited by the Cuban poet Carlota Caulfield, W. M. Keck Professor in Creative Writing at Mills College, California.

In her introduction, Professor Caulfield affirms that “Gestures of Memory presents a rich mosaic of poems, prose poems and autobiographical poetic-fiction. Among the main themes in the texts included here we find personal and family memories, the search for identity, self-exploration, sexuality, historical and political uncertainties, journeys and diasporas. All the writers in this collection are part of different diasporas. In general, their collaborations touch upon their Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewishness in different ways. They pay attention to their diverse genealogies, in many instances questioning discourses of power from feminist perspectives. They succeed in offering, with extraordinary lyricism in some cases and sharp humor in others, unique experiences and reflections on personal and cultural identities.”

Gestures of Memory includes a selected bibliography of critical work about the writers. Their texts appear as they were written, in Spanish or English. However, the contributions in Spanish are accompanied by their translation into English. There are also texts characterized by a linguistic English-Spanish mestizaje. After each selection, the reader will also find biobibliographical notes about the writers and their translators.

Sponsored by Office of Academic Affairs, Hostos Review/Revista Hostosiana is edited by Peruvian writer Isaac Goldemberg, a Distinguished Professor at Hostos, and its mission is to build bridges between Latino and Iberoamerican artists and intellectuals in the United States with their counterparts in Latin America, Spain, and other parts of the world.

For further information, write to igoldemberg@hostos.cuny.edu and to read this issue click on this link: https://issuu.com/mutandis/docs/hostos_review__14

About the Latin American Writers Institute (LAWI)
 The Latin American Wriers Institute (LAWI) was founded by Professor Isaac Goldemberg at The City College of New York in 1987. Housed at Hostos Community College since 1992, LAWI is an organization devoted to promoting Latin American and Latino literature in the United States. LAWI presents the work of Latino writers to different audiences, by publishing books under its imprint The Latino Press; by editing two bilingual journals, Brújula/Compass and Hostos Review/Revista Hostosiana; by sponsoring readings and conferences; by offering writing workshops; by sponsoring the Latino Literature Prize in Poetry and Fiction, and by organizing the “LibroFest Latino BookFest."

 LAWI also functions as a clearing house on Latino and Latin American literature. Its services are available to professors, journalists, reviewers, translators, editors, and publishers who are interested in writers for readings, conferences, and workshops and who might need skilled Latino writers for editing, teaching, translation, and writing projects.
 In keeping with its goal of increasing intercultural understanding, LAWI's activities are designed for a multiethnic audience and seek to recognize and encourage cultural diversity in its membership and in all of its programs.