This post was written by 楼凤天堂 member Sonia Adams.
Early in my academic studies, I became interested in reading literature by American women writers of color. As time passed, my interest in women鈥檚 writings progressed toward a globalized and activist paradigm.
The late writer and activist Toni Cade Bambara wrote that the job of the writer is to make revolution irresistible. Engaging in “revolutionary” struggle lies at the foundation of literary activism. I greatly admire activist women writers who use their craft to explore the complexities and dynamics of human experience in unique and thought-provoking ways. I also respect women activist educators who engage in community-based education through critical literacy, multiculturalism, social justice, and personal empowerment.
I would like to highlight three global BIPOC women literary activists who not only transcend borders and boundaries, but who cultivate an enriched reading culture that provokes critical change in the world.
Anita Heiss
Dr. Anita Heiss is an accomplished Aboriginal literary scholar, educator, author and activist. 聽She is a member of the Wiradjuri nation, located in the state of Central New South Wales in Australia. Dr. Heiss鈥檚 publications include a series of articles, adult novels, elementary and middle-grade books, and a memoir. In addition, she has edited the following groundbreaking anthologies: , , and .
I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Heiss for the first time when she launched her novel Manhattan Dreaming and delivered a presentation on Aboriginal literature at the Australian Consulate in New York City several years ago. Her passion for the written word ranges from her creative writing projects with students at La Perouse Public Schools to her ambassadorship for the (ILF) and .
At the ILF, Dr. Heiss has been instrumental in addressing low literacy rates among children in remote Indigenous communities by participating in fundraising campaigns and community publishing projects. Her central goals in pursuing this work are to instill a love for reading in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and to provide them with culturally relevant and life-affirming books in which they can see their identities and communities reflected. Dr. Heiss has cofacilitated writing workshops with Shelley Ware at Worawa Aboriginal College, and the Worawa students produced writings, photographs, and artworks that were published in Dr. Heiss鈥檚 commitment to empowering students through literacy education resonates with me strongly. In following Dr. Heiss鈥檚 literary activist pursuits over the years, I鈥檝e come to consider her as a mentor from afar.
顿别苍颈蝉别听颁丑谩惫别锄
Chicana literary activist 顿别苍颈蝉别听颁丑谩惫别锄聽continues to make an indelible mark in American letters and in her community of Las Cruces, New Mexico. She has produced several works of fiction and plays as well as the memoir聽聽In addition to Ch谩vez鈥檚聽 published writings, she has taught creative writing at leading colleges and universities and facilitated writing workshops at the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, Casa Camino Real, and other sites. She currently serves as the owner and director of .
In reading A Taco Testimony many years ago, I was enamored of the way Ch谩vez merged Mexican recipes, memoir, ancestral history, and cultural aesthetics to render familial stories, authentic in voice, nuanced in memory, palpable in lived experiences. Activist writers like Ch谩vez who display such attributes through their craft are intentional in addressing issues of diversity, representation, and inclusion that are often dismissed by the elitist publishing industry in the US. As founder and codirector of the Borders Book Festival, Ch谩vez asserted an activist stance in transforming sociopolitical and cultural borders that were set in place to thwart聽community building and engagement. In an interview with Border Lore, Ch谩vez shares the community ethos she and former executive director Susan Tweit asserted in sustaining the festival: 鈥淲e were bringing writers to people and people to writers in an underserved, multicultural community that was lacking that kind of engagement.鈥�
Ch谩vez鈥檚 community ethos evolved into new ventures. She established聽Libros para el Viaje, Books for the Journey, which is a book drive for funding and distributing books to migrants and refugees at temporary shelters, churches, and nonprofit organizations. Ch谩vez鈥檚 involvement in the book drive has segued into volunteer service for the Border Servant Corps, delivering books to migrant and refugee groups in Las Cruces. Her contributions in creating literate communities continue to inform her life and activism. As Ch谩vez affirms: 鈥淚 was a writer and community activist. The Border Book Festival was my coming into womanhood and coming into full force as an activist鈥� (Border Lore).
Kir de Waal
Kit de Waal is a British-born author of Irish and Caribbean ancestry. Early in de Waal鈥檚 professional career, she worked as a legal executive and magistrate under the sectors of criminal and family law. Several years later, de Waal decided to pursue a writing career. She became a member of the Oxford Narrative Group and Leather Lane Writers and has since published articles, essays, a short story collection, and three novels. I was instantly drawn to her novel聽 upon its US release. I was intrigued by the way de Waal captured nine-year-old Leon鈥檚 vulnerability and courage in being separated from his mother and placed in the foster care system and bearing witness to the 1981 race riots in England.
Growing up as a poor biracial child in an Irish working-class community inspired de Waal to launch the 聽which affords aspiring writers from marginalized backgrounds monetary and support services. Of special note is the fact that de Waal financed the scholarship by reserving money from an advance she received for her most well-known novel.
The lack of or limited publishing opportunities available for emergent writers from marginalized groups provoked de Waal to form a partnership with Unbound in crowdfunding and publishing the anthology聽. In de Waal鈥檚 article, she negates stereotypes of working-class folks by centering their voices and experiences in the anthology:聽鈥渢hese are narratives rich in barbed humour, their technique and vernacular reflecting the depth and texture of working-class life, the joy and sorrow, the solidarity and the differences, the everyday wisdom and poetry of the woman at the bus stop, the waiter, the hairdresser鈥� (13). Overall,聽I admire de Waal鈥檚 “Black feminist ethic of caring” as a literary activist writer.
The enduring work of these global BIPOC women literary activists warrants the attention and support of educators, librarians, readers, and literacy advocates.聽Dr. Anita Heiss, Denise Chavez, and Kit de Waal remain vigilant in cultivating a rich body of literature to gift to the world.
In case you’d like to learn more, additional resources are suggested below.
Related Readings and Resources聽
鈥�鈥橧 know what you are about to enter鈥�: Lived Experiences as the Curricular Foundation for Teaching Citizenship,鈥� Black Women Theorizing Curriculum Studies in Colour and Curves, edited by Kirsten T. Edwards Williams, Denise Taliaferro Baszile, and Nichole A. Guillory, Routledge, 2020, pp. 19鈥�35.
Learn More about These Literary Activists
Anita Heiss
Denise Ch谩vez
Kit de Waal
Sonia Adams is an English educator and PhD candidate from New York City. Her scholarship is centered on multicultural feminist studies, contemporary US multiethnic and global women鈥檚 literatures, and social justice interventions in English studies instructional design and curricular development.
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