Achy Obejas (born June 28, 1956) is a
Cuban-American
Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...
writer and translator focused on personal and national identity issues,
living in
Benicia, California
Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the List of capitals in the United S ...
. She frequently writes on her sexuality and nationality, and has received numerous awards for her creative work. Obejas' stories and poems have appeared in ''
Prairie Schooner
''Prairie Schooner'' is a literary magazine published quarterly at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with the cooperation of UNL's English Department and the University of Nebraska Press. It is based in Lincoln, Nebraska and was first publi ...
'', ''
Fifth Wednesday Journal'', ''
TriQuarterly
''TriQuarterly'' is a name shared by an American literary magazine and a series of books.
The journal is published twice a year under the aegis of the Northwestern University Department of English and features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama ...
'', ''Another Chicago Magazine'' and many other publications. Some of her work was originally published in ''
Esto no tiene nombre Esto may refer to:
*Esto, Florida
* Esto, Kentucky
* Global Estonian Cultural Days, abbreviated ESTO in Estonian
*A brand name for Escitalopram
*An Estonian person
*''Esto'', a newspaper published by Organización Editorial Mexicana
Organización ...
'', a Latina lesbian magazine published and edited by
tatiana de la tierra
Tatiana de la tierra (May 14, 1961 – July 31, 2012) was a Colombian writer, poet and activist. She was the author of the first international Latina lesbian magazine ''Esto no tiene nombre.''
Early life
Tatiana de la tierra was born in Villavic ...
, which gave voice to the Latina lesbian community. Obejas worked as a journalist in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
for more than two decades. For several years, she was also a writer in residence at the University of Chicago, University of Hawaii, DePaul University, Wichita State University, and Mills College in Oakland, California. She also worked from 2019 to 2022 as a writer/editor for Netflix on the bilingual team in the Product Writing department.
Obejas practices activism through writing, by telling her own story about her identity, as well as others. The anthology ''Immigrant Voices: 21st Century Stories'', written in collaboration with Megan Bayles, is a collection of stories that seeks to describe the experience of people who have emigrated to America. While most anthologies focus on one group, this anthology expands the perspective to multiple group identities.
Personal life
Obejas was born June 28, 1956, in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[Michigan City, Indiana
Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 32,075 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Lake Michigan in the Michiana region, the city is about east of Chicago and is west o ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>.<ref name=ReferenceA>''Contemporary Authors Online'' Thomson Gale, 2006.</ref> After emigrating to the United States at the age of six, she lived in <div class=)
, and attended
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
from 1977 to 1979, when she moved to
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.
Nationality
At the age of 39, Obejas revisited Cuba. Reflections on her home country are dispersed throughout her work, such as in the story collection ''
We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?''
Although she has lived in the Midwest since childhood, Obejas says her Cuban origins continue to be a defining detail in her life. In an interview with
Gregg Shapiro Gregg may refer to:
People
* Gregg (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Gregg (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Places
* Gregg, Missouri, U.S.
* Gregg County, Texas, U.S.
* Gregg River, Alberta, Cana ...
, Obejas discussed the peculiar duality of growing up in the U.S. but not truly identifying as an American:
I was born in Havana and that single event has pretty much defined the rest of my life. In the U.S., I'm Cuban, Cuban-American, Latina by virtue of being Cuban, a Cuban journalist, a Cuban writer, somebody's Cuban lover, a Cuban dyke, a Cuban girl on a bus, a Cuban exploring Sephardic roots, always and endlessly Cuban. I'm more Cuban here than I am in Cuba, by sheer contrast and repetition.[Gregg Shapiro]
"In 'AWE': Achy Obejas on her new work"
''Windy City Times'', August 8, 2001.
Sexuality
Obejas is a lesbian and frequently references sexuality in her writing. Although she often writes about her characters' struggles with sexuality and family acceptance, in an interview with Chicago LGBT newspaper ''
Windy City Times
''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985.
History
''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Public ...
'', she said she did not experience significant family problems because of her sexuality:
Remember, Cuba was known as the brothel of the Caribbean prior to the revolution. People went to Cuba to do the things they couldn't do in their home countries, but were free to do there. So Cubans have a sort of thick skin to most sexual stuff, which is not to say that my parents did, but as a general rule in the environment and the culture, there's a lot more possibility. I never had any sense of shame or anything like that.
On a personal level, Obejas says she always accepted her sexual identity as part of herself:
In terms of my own sexuality, I don't know what it was, but I just never blinked. I was always amazed when other people did; I was always sort of flabbergasted when people would suffer angst about it. I understood that it was taboo and all of that, but I chalked it up as a kind of a generational problem.
Career
She earned an M.F.A from
Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a required course of study, work an on-campus j ...
in 1993.
[ She was the Springer Lecturer in Creative Writing (2003–05) at the ]University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, as well as an advisor for the online prose magazine ''Otium
is a Latin abstract term which has a variety of meanings, including leisure time for "self-realization activities" such as eating, playing, relaxing, contemplation, and Academy, academic endeavors. It sometimes relates to a time in a person's ...
''. In fall of 2005, she served as the Distinguished Writer in Residence at the University of Hawaiʻi
The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...
. She was the Sor Juana
Sor or SOR may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* School of Rock, 2003 film starring Jack Black
* Shades of Rhythm, a British based rave music group
* Son of Rambow, 2008 film starring Bill Milner and Will Poulter
* Sor, Serdar Ortaç ...
visiting writer at DePaul University
DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...
from 2006 to 2012. From 2013 to 2019, she served as the Distinguished Visiting Writer at Mills College, where she founded a Low-Residency MFA in Translation Program.
In 2008, she translated Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz ( ; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican American writer, creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former fiction editor at '' Boston Review''. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience ...
's Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning novel, '' The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'', into Spanish. The Dominican-American author's novel addresses many themes, including young adult sexuality and national identity, also present in Obejas' work. She's also translated work by Rita Indiana, Wendy Guerra
Wendy Guerra (born 11 December 1970), formally Wendy Guerra Torres, is a Cuban poet and novelist, based in Miami.
After a brief career acting in Cuban film and television, she turned to writing and won recognition more readily abroad than within ...
, Adam Mansbach
Adam Mansbach (born July 1, 1976) is an American author. He has previously been a visiting professor of literature at Rutgers University-Camden, with their New Voices Visiting Writers program (2009–2011).
Biography
Mansbach graduated from Col ...
, Carlos Velazquez, F.G. Haghenbeck, and many others. She is the rare translator who can work in and out of both English and Spanish.
Obejas has written the novels ''Ruins'', ''Memory Mambo'' and ''Days of Awe'', and the story collection ''We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?'' as well as the poetry chapbook ''This is What Happened in Our Other Life.'' A collection of short stories, "The Tower of Antilles & Other Stories" was published by Akashic in 2017.
In 2021, she released the widely praised ''Boomerang/Bumerán'' through Beacon Press, a non-gendered collection of poetry in English and Spanish addressing immigration, activism and other issues.
In a reflection on Obejas' work, Latina comedian Lisa Alvarado says of the writer, "Her work exudes a keen sense of humor, of irony, of compassion and is laced with the infinite small moments that make her poetry and her novels sing with the breath of real life."["Achy Obejas, Renaissance Woman, Cuban Style"]
La Bloga, February 27, 2009.
Journalism
Throughout her career, Obejas has worked for many different publications, including the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', ''Windy City Times
''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985.
History
''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Public ...
'', ''The Advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law.
The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to:
Magazines
* The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States
* ''The Harvard Advocate' ...
'', ''Out
Out or OUT may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
*Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
*Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander
*O ...
'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'', ''Ms.
Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...
'', ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'', ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''t, and ''The'' ''New York Times''.
As a ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' columnist for nearly ten years, Obejas penned the nightlife column "After Hours". The column started when then-Friday section editor Kevin Moore asked the self-described insomniac if she would like to cover nighttime entertainment for the paper. In 2001, Obejas announced that she would no longer write the column.
Works
Novels
* ''Memory Mambo'' (1996)
* ''Days of Awe'' (2001)
* ''Ruins'' (2009)
Collections
* ''We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?'' (1994) (stories)
* ''This Is What Happened In Our Other Life'' (2007) (poems)
* ''The Tower of the Antilles'' (2017) (stories)
Other
* ''Havana Noir'' (2007) (translator and editor)
* ''La Breve y Maravillosa Vida de Oscar Wao'' (2008) (translator)
* "Immigrant Voices: 21st Century Stories" (2014) (co-editor with Megan Bayles)
* Papi by Rita Indiana (2016) (translator)
* ''Boomerang / Bumerán'' (poetry) (2021)
Awards
Obejas has received a Pulitzer Prize for her work in a ''Chicago Tribune'' team investigation, the Studs Terkel Journalism Prize, several Peter Lisagor journalism honors, and two Lambda Literary awards.
She has also been a National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
fellow in poetry and served residencies at Yaddo, Ragdale and McDowell, among others.
In 2010 she was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame
The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Ch ...
.
In 2014, she was awarded a USA Ford Fellowship for literature and translation."2014 United States Artists Fellows".
/ref>
See also
* List of Cuban American writers
See also
* Cuban American literature
* List of Cuban writers
* List of Cuban women writers
* List of Cuban Americans
* Before Columbus Foundation
References
Bibliography
* (Anthology; includes writer biographies)
* (Anthology; includes ...
* List of LGBT writers
References
External links
Official site
* Marika Preziuso (October 2010).
Interview with Achy Obejas
''sx salon''. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
''Otium''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obejas, Achy
1956 births
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American poets
21st-century American poets
20th-century American translators
21st-century American translators
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American LGBTQ people
American women novelists
American women poets
American writers of Cuban descent
Cuban emigrants to the United States
DePaul University faculty
English–Spanish translators
Hispanic and Latino American novelists
Hispanic and Latino American poets
Hispanic and Latino American women journalists
Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction winners
American lesbian writers
LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people
Cuban LGBTQ poets
Cuban LGBTQ novelists
21st-century Cuban novelists
Living people
Writers from Havana
People from Michigan City, Indiana
Writers from Chicago
American LGBTQ poets
American LGBTQ novelists
American women journalists
21st-century Cuban women writers
Cuban lesbian writers
Novelists from Indiana
Novelists from Illinois
American women academics
Lesbian novelists