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Chicana poet and writer Ana Castillo was born and
raised in Chicago, but has spent most of her writing career studying her
Mestiza heritage. In her first novel, The Mixquiahuala Letters
(1986), Castillo explores the relationship between two women who travel to
Mexico in search of a better understanding of their place in both the U.S.
and Mexican societies. The novel, written in the form of letters between
the two women, is considered the landmark novel that made Castillo a
leading Chicana feminista writer, winning the American Book Award from the
Before Columbus Foundation.
Castillo's interest in race and gender issues can be
traced through her writing career, culminating in Massacre of the
Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma, published in 1994. In this
collection of essays, Castillo explores the notion of Xicanisma, a term
she herself created in order to give name to the struggles of Brown women
in the racially polarized U.S. In the U.S., much debate of racism becomes
constructed in a Black-White paradigm, leaving little room for others. In
Massacre of the Dreamers, Castillo explores the Chicana
feminist movement of the 70's and where that movement is headed. Castillo
notes that U.S. history, especially, seems to neglect the struggles of
Mexico and the indigenous peoples who became involuntary migrants into
what is now the Southwestern U.S. By exploring the history of Mexico and
Central America, Castillo hopes to integrate ideas about the patriarchy
and oppression of these societies with that of the United States, looking
at how Brown women must cope in both societies.
 Castillo
was schooled in Chicago for the most part, attending the Chicago City
College for two years before entering Northwestern Illinois University.
Here, she received her B.A. in art. After receiving her degree in 1975,
Castillo moved to Sonoma County, California to teach. In 1977 she moved
back to Chicago and earned an M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
at the University of Chicago. Throughout this period of time, Castillo was
not only writing, but was also an activist -- something she still
continues to be. In 1986 Castillo moved back to California and taught at
various colleges. She eventually found herself at the University of Bremen
in Germany where she earned her Ph.D. in American Studies.
Not only is Castillo a noted poet and novelist, she has
edited many works with other Chicana-Latina writers including Cherrie
Moraga and Norma Alarcon. It was with Alarcon and others that Castillo co-founded
Third Woman, a literary magazine, for which she is a
contributing editor. Her most recent publication, La Diosa de las
Americas/Goddess of the Americas, is an anthology about the Virgin
of Guadalupe with Castillo as editor. Castillo proclaims herself a "devotee"
of the Virgin of Guadalupe who is considered the Mother Goddess in Mexican,
Mestizo, and Mexican-Indian societies, but largely ignored by the
patriarchal Catholic church. It is the Catholic church and patriarch that
led Castillo to incorporate sexuality as one of the main themes in her
writing. Because the Catholic church does not condone sex unless it is for
the sole purpose of having a child, many women in Catholic cultures,
including much of Latin America, lose a segment of their "self" by being
denied their sexuality. Castillo believes that women have lost their sense
of self on many levels, including psychologically, physically, and
spiritually, and need to reclaim themselves. Castillo herself does this
through her writing and activism.
Works by the Author
FICTION
 | My Daughter, My Son, The Eagle, The Dove (2000) |
| Peel my Love Like an Onion (1999) |
| Loverboys (1996) |
| So Far From God (1993) |
| The Mixquiahuala Letters (1986) |
NON-FICTION
| Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma (1994) |
VIDEO and SOUND
| Sapogonia: Uncorrected Proof (uncut version) (1994) |
| Ana Castillo reading from her works (sound recording) (1994)
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| Sapogonia: Uncorrected Proof (3/8 meter video) (1990) |
POETRY
| I Ask the Impossible (2001) |
| My Father Was a Toltec and Selected Poems 1973-1988 (1995)
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| My Father Was a Toltec (1988) |
| Women Are Not Roses (1984) |
| The Invitation (1979) |
| Otro Canto (1977) |
EDITED VOLUMES
| Esta Puente, Mi Espalda: Voces de Mujeres Tercermundistas en los
Estados Unidos Co-editor (1988) |
| The Sexuality of Latinas Co-editor (1991) |
| Goddess of the Americas/La Diosa de las Americas Editor
(1996) |
Works about the Author
| Alarcon, Norma. "The Sardonic Powers of the Erotic in the Work of
Ana Castillo." Breaking Boundaries: Latina Writing and Critical
Readings. Amherst, MA: Amherst University Press, 15, 1989: 268. |
| Fernandez, Roberta, ed. In Other Words: Literature by Latinas of
the United States. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1994 |
| Her heritage: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Famous American
Women. CD-Rom. Pilgrim New Media, 1996. |
| Marzan, Julio and Ron Padgett. "Other Poetic Models." Teachers
and Writers 28:3, 1997. |
| Stavans, IIan. "The New Latino: A Literary Renaissance."
Boomsbury Review. March, 1993. |
Ana Castillo
This is the official page for Ana Castillo and has some nice, short
explanations of Xicanisma, a short biography, and an extensive
bibliography.
Writing For Outsiders: Ana Castillo Covers the
Boundaries of Overlapping Worlds
For a short description and critique of Loverboys, Castillo's collection
of short stories, go here.
Ana Castillo Interview, by Martha Cinader
and Matthew Finch
This is a rather lengthy and detailed interview of Castillo. It mainly
focuses on Xicanisma and her book Massacre of the Dreamers, but includes
other topics as well.
(From Voices from the Gap)
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