Since posting a link and thoughts on gender and fibromyalgia, I discovered that Lakshmi Piepzna Samarashina , a writer I am quickly falling in love with, actually has it, and even wrote about it, in conjuction with being a queer coloredgirl. Among other things, Lakshmi Piepzna Samarashina writes to Gloria Anzuldua (a magnificent writers as well, who I've discussed before) about living with chronic illness. She uses the term nepantla, which is the inbetween space of borders that Anzuldua and other Latina writers have used. Lakshmi Piepzna Samarashina discusses the struggle to make a life for yourself when you are disabled (and also, the interconnected struggles with being queer and a person of color, which compounds her circumstances.) She also discusses Anzuldua’s struggle to hide how sick she really was. I’ve done work on Anzuldua, and I was unaware that she had been so ill (I was aware of her relatively early death, which is tragic. We lost a wonderful writer and activist there.)
Lakshmi Piepzna Samarashina is a wonderful writer who is just starting to emerge as as someone to follow. (She's been respected in activist circles for years, but she is only just now getting a little mainstream fame, having been nominated for a Pushcart recently.)
No comments:
Post a Comment