The Woman That I Am: The Literature and Culture of Contemporary Women of Color

by D. Soyini Madison

Book Overview

Selected to represent a rich diversity of voices, styles, and genres, The Woman That I Am gathers 121 works of contemporary fiction, poetry, drama, autobiography, and cultural criticism by American women of color - African-American, Asian-American, Latina-American, and Native American. Well-known writers such as Alice Walker, Louise Erdrich, Amy Tan, Maya Angelou, Jessica Hagedorn, Sandra Cisneros, Jamaica Kincaid, Toni Morrison, and others are presented...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312100124
• ISBN13: 9780312100124
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 709 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful Collection of Stories

Beautiful Collection of Stories. Use it as a support in my multicultural issues class. It was very effective.

Above Average

This book is an interesting collection of well-known and lesser-known authors of short stories, plays, poetry and essays. All works of writing portray the lives of colored women. It is a varied group of writers who really, have little in common. However, the book is lacking a cohesive momentum that it was probably trying to achieve. Interesting addition to a book collection.

This collection does not disappoint!

I first came upon this book in a senior seminar in college. At the time I apppreciated it for the varying voices of women. I was able to see women like and unlike myself and be warmed by the fire of this sisterhood. I had no idea that when I wrote my Master's thesis how important this text would be. Unfortunately there are few anthologies like this one that covers so many bases so effectively. Madison has collected well known and lesser known talents into an invaluable research tool. It should be required reading for anyone interested in stepping into the world of writing by women of color.

A symposium of brilliance

"The Woman That I Am;" an anthology containing such literary geniuses as Gwendolyn Brooks, Jamaica Kincaid, Amy Tan, and poet laureate Rita Dove; seethes with life and vitality. Essentially a collection of poetry, short stories, plays and essays on the lives of colored women, the focus for the anthology lays within the diversity of the writers selected. Synthesized in this collection are the lives of women from all walks of life completely free of judgment. "In loving ourselves for who we are --American women of color-- we can make a vision for the future where we are free to fulfill our human potential. This new framework will not support repression, hatred, exploitation and isolation, but will be a human and beautiful framework, created in a community, bonded not by color, sex or class, but by love and the common goal for the liberation of mind, heart, and spirit." (Merle Woo) A celebration for all womankind, whis book is a must read for colored women, lesbians, conservatives, breast cancer survivors, daughters, mothers, wives, students, mentors, bosses, plebeians, independents, mujeres, lovers, writers, readers... humankind. Buy it now and enjoy it tomorrow.