Arlinda Smith

Betsy Erbaugh

Women Studies 200.001

9 September 2003

Cherríe Moraga

Cherríe Moraga is one of the most influential women in the women’s liberation movement. She has not only made a difference in the lives of women but in her own personal life as well. Ms. Moraga who was struggling to have a connection with her family, especially her mother, soon found that link when she came out as a Chicana lesbian. By making her sexual preference known, she helped herself to knock down her self made barriers and barriers of society. Her family life also helped contribute to her writing ability, by influencing her. Her ability to write, not only as a Chicana but also as a lesbian, has given Ms. Moraga a new outlook to her writing and she realizes all of the people that she can relate to. She is not only reaching out to the Chicana community but to the lesbian community as well. I believe that one of her strongest features is her unwillingness to give up. By working to create her own publishing company, she shows that is determined to leave her name in this world and that is exactly what she has done. Currently Ms. Moraga is an Artist in Residence in the Department of Drama at Stanford University where she also serves a member of the faculty in the Department Spanish and Portuguese.

Born: September 25, 1952 in Whitier, California to Anglo and Chicana parents

Publications:

Books, Author

· Loving in the War Years (Expanded Second Edition).  Cambridge, MA:  South End Press, 2000.

· Waiting in the Wings:  Portrait of a Queer Motherhood.  (Non-fiction) Ithaca, NY:  Firebrand Press, 1997.

· Heroes & Saints  and Other Plays.  Albuquerque, NM: West End Press, 1994.

· The Last Generation (poetry, fiction and non-fiction).  Boston: South End Press, 1993.

· Giving Up the Ghost (play).  Albuquerque, NM:  West End Press, 1986.

· Loving in the War Years/Lo Que Nunca Pasó Por Sus Labios (poetry, fiction and non-fiction).  Boston: South End Press, 1983.

Books, Co-editor

• The Bridge Called My Back:  Writings by Radical Women of Color  (poetry/non-fiction anthology).  New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1981/3.
• Cuentos: Stories by Latinas (fiction anthology).  New York: Kitchen Table, Women of Color Press, 1983.
• Esta puente, mi espalda: Voces de mujeres tercermundistas en los Estados Unidos (Spanish adaptation of This Bridge Called My Back), co-editor.  San Francisco:  Ism Press, 1988.
• Third Woman:  The Sexuality of Latinas (poetry and non-fiction anthology).  Berkeley:  Third Woman Press, 1989.

Anthologized Writings, A Selected List

• “Watsonville:  Some Place Not Here” in Latino Plays from South Coast Repertory Hispanic Playwrights Project Anthology.  Juliette Carrillo and José Cruz Gónzales, eds.  New York:  Broadway Play Publishing, Inc., 2000.
• "Heart of the Earth:  A Popol Vuh Story" in Puro Teatro:  An Anthology of Latina Theater, Performance and Testimonios.  Alberto Sandoval and Nancy Saporta, eds.  University of Arizona Press, 2000.
• "The Hungry Woman:  A Mexican Medea" in Out of the Fringe:  Latino/a Theater and Performance.  Caridad Svich, et al, eds.  New York:  Theater Communications Group, 2000.
• "Waiting in the Wings" (an excerpt) in The Politics of Motherhood:  Activists' Voices from Left to Right.  Jetter, Orleck and Taylor, eds.  Hanover, NH and London:  University Press of New England, 1997.
• "Giving Up the Ghost" in Literatura chicana 1965-1995.  Manuel de Jesús Hernández-Gutiérrez and David William Foster, eds.  New York:  Garland, 1997.
• "El Mito Azteca" and "Our Lady of the Cannery Workers" in Goddess of the Americas:  Writings on the Virgin of Guadalupe.  Ana Castillo, ed.  New York:  Riverhead Books, 1996.
• "Heroes and Saints" in Contemporary Plays by Women of Color:  An Anthology.  Kathy A. Perkins and Roberta Uno, eds.  New York:  Routledge, 1996.
• "The Breakdown of the Bicultural Mind" in Names We Call Home:  Autobiogaphy on Racial Identity.  Becky Thompson and Sangeeta Tyagi, eds.  New York & London:  Routledge, 1996.
• "Where Beauty Resides" in The Art of Love:  An Anthology of Lesbian Love Poems.   Clare Coss, ed.  New York:  Scribner, 1996.
• "New Mexican Confession" in Daughters of the Fifth Sun:  A Collection of Latina Fiction and Poetry.  B. Milligan, M.G. Milligan, and A. de Hoyos, eds.  New York:  Riverhead Books, 1995.
• "Giving Up the Ghost" in The Actor's Book of Gay and Lesbian Plays.  Eric Lane and Nina Shengold, eds.  New York:  Penguin Books, 1995.
• "La Güera" in The Woman That I Am:  The Literature and Culture of Contemporary Women of Color.  D. Soyini Madison, ed.  New York:  St. Martin's Press, 1994.
• "Art in América con Acento" in Negotiating Performances:  Gender, Sexuality and Theatricality in Latino/o America.  Diana Taylor and Juan Villegas, eds.  Durham, N.C. and London:  Duke University Press, 1994.
• "Shadow of a Man" in Shattering the Myth:  Plays by Hispanic Women.  Linda Feyder, ed.  Houston:  Arte Público Press, 1992.
• "Poema como Valentín" in An Ear to the Ground:  An Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry.  Athens:  University of Georgia Press, 1989.
• "Feed the Mexican Back into Her:" and "For you, Mamá" in Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time.  Carl Morse and Joan Larkin, eds.  New York:  St. Martin's Press, 1988.
• "A Long Line of Vendidas" in Feminist Studies/Critical Studies.  Teresa de Lauretis, ed.  Bloomington:  University of Indiana Press, 1986.
• "La Dulce Culpa"  (and other poems) in Pleasure and Danger:  Exploring Female Sexuality.  Carole S. Vance, ed.  Boston:  Routledge and Kegan Paul Press, 1984.
• "What We're Rolling Around in Bed With"  (with Amber Hollibaugh) in Powers of Desire:  The Politics of Sexuality.  New York:  Monthly Review Press, 1983.

THEATER  PRODUCTIONS/STAGED READINGS

“Who Killed Yolanda Saldívar?” 
Staged Reading.  “Lesbian Playwrights’ Festival” at The Magic Theatre, San Francisco.  January 13 and 23, 2000.  Directed by Irma Mayorga.

“The Hungry Woman:  A Mexican Medea,” 
Commissioned by Berkeley Repertory Theater.

• Staged Reading.  A  Contemporary Theater, Seattle.  May 21, 1999.  Directed by Richard E.T. White.
• Staged Reading.  Brava Theater Center in San Francisco.  June 10, 1997.  Directed by the author.
• Staged Reading.  New Work Festival at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. December 3, 1995.  Directed by Lisa Wolpe.
• Reading.  Berkeley Repertory Theater.  April 10, 1995.  Directed by Tony Kelly.

Watsonville:  Some Place Not Here, Winner of the 1995 Fund for New American Plays Award. 
Commissioned by Brava Theater Center, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.

• World premiere at Brava Theater Center of San Francisco.  May 25, 1996.  Directed by Amy Mueller.
• Staged Reading at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  February 19, 1996.  Directed by Amy Mueller.
• Staged Concert Readings at The Traveling Jewish Theater.  June 5-6, 1995.  Directed by Amy Mueller.
• Staged Reading at South Coast Repertory Theater of Costa Mesa, CA.  August 6, 1995.  Directed by José Luis Valenzuela.
• Opened at Frontera @ Hyde Park Theater of Austin, Texas.  June  18, 1998.  Directed by  Rodney Garza.

A Circle in the Dirt
Commissioned by The Committee for Black Performing Arts, Stanford University.
World Premiere at Stanford University.  November 29 - December 3, 1995.  Directed by Roberto Gutiérrez Varea. 

Heart of the Earth:  A Popol Vuh Story
Commissioned by INTAR Theater, New York.

• Premiered at the Public Theater in New York, September 14, 1994.  Directed by Ralph Lee.  A collaboration with composer, Glen Velez and visuals by Ralph Lee. 
• Opened at INTAR Theater of New York, January  10, 1995.  Directed by Ralph Lee.
• Opened at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in January 1997.  Directed by Ralph Lee.

Heroes and Saints
Commissioned by the Los Angeles Theater Center.  Winner of the Pen West Drama Award and the Will  Glickman Prize.

• Premiered at The Mission Theater in San Francisco.  Produced by Brava Theater Center. April 4 - May 17, 1992.  Directed by Albert Takazauckas.
• Opened at The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio, Texas.  October 23, 1992.  Directed by Susana Tubert.
• Opened at Borderlands Theater in Tucson, Arizona.  August 18, 1993.  Directed by Diane Rodríguez.
• Opened at The Latino Chicago Theater in May 1994.   Directed by Juan Ramírez. 
• Opened at The Miracle Theater in Portland, Oregon.  October 21, 1994. 
• Opened  at The Working Theater in New York City.  December 7, 1994.  Directed by Albert Takazauckas.

Shadow of a Man
Winner of the Fund for New American Plays Award.

• Premiered at The Eureka Theater in San Francisco.  A co-production with Brava! For Women in the Arts.  November 10 - December 9, 1990.  Directed by María Irene Fornes.
• Opened at The Latino Chicago Theater on May 17, 1992.  Directed by Carmen Aguilar.
• Opened at The Miracle Theater in Portland, Oregon.  May 1992.
• Opened at Su Teatro in Denver, Colorado.  January 1995.
• Opened at The Cara Mía Theater in Dallas, Texas.  May 23, 1996.

Coatlicue's Call/ El llamado de Coatlicue
Premiered at Theater Artaud in San Francisco.  October 25, 1990.   Conceived and performed by Guadalupe García.  Directed by the author. 

Giving Up the Ghost

• Premiered at the Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco.  February 10 - March 12, 1989.  Directed by Anita Mattos and José Guadalupe Saucedo.
• An earlier version opened at The Front Room Theater in Seattle.  March 8, 1987.  Directed by Laura Esparza.
• Opened at the Diversionary Theater of San Diego.  March 1998.

AWARDS

• David R. Kessler Award.  The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, City University of New York.  (In honor of contributions to the field of Queer Studies), 2000.
• The First Annual Cara Award. UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center/ Cesar Chavez Center for Interdisciplinary Instruction in Chicana/Chicano Studies, 1999.
• Theater Communications Group National Theater Artist Residency Program, 1996.
• The Fund for New American Plays Award, a project of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 1995 and 1991.
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Ellas in Acción, San Francisco, 1995.
• Lesbian Rights Award, Southern California Women for Understanding (“for Outstanding Contributions in Lesbian Literature and for Service to the Lesbian Community”), 1991.
• The National Endowment for the Arts Theater Playwrights' Fellowship, 1993.
• The Pen West Literary Award for Drama, 1993.
• The Critics' Circle Award for Best Original Script, 1992.
• The Will Glickman Playwriting Award, 1992.
• The Drama-logue Award for Playwriting, 1992.
• The Outlook Foundation, Literary Award, 1991.
• The California Arts Council Artists in Community Residency Award, 1991-2 & 1993-5.
• The American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation, 1986.
• The Creative Arts Public Service  (CAPS) Grant for Poetry, New York State, 1983.
• The Mac Dowell Colony Fellowship for Poetry, New Hampshire, 1982.

EDUCATION

• Master of Arts in Literature (Special Major:  Feminist Studies).  California State University, San Francisco, 1980.
• Bachelor of Arts in English.  Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, 1974.
• Community College Teaching Credential in English and Ethnic Studies.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

cmoraga@stanford.edu

Drama Department

Stanford, CA 94305-5010