In novels, short stories, poems, and essays, Ana Castillo explores what Ibis Gomez-Vega has called “those segments of the American population often separated by class, economics, gender, and sexual orientation.” Castillo’s works transcend these boundaries of politics, class, and gender, making her one of the best-known Mexican American writers working today. Xpat Nation named her as one of the “10 Mexican-American Women You Need to Know About.” Castillo’s prose blends elements of oral history and established literary tradition with innovation and experimentation: Ilan Stavans has called her “the most daring and experimental of Latino novelists.” Castillo’s latest work, Black Dove: Mamá, Mi’jo, and Me looks at what it means to be a single, brown, feminist parent in a world of mass incarceration, racial profiling, and police brutality.

ANA CASTILLO IS THE THIRD SPEAKER IN THE WOMEN OF COLOR INITIATIVES SPEAKER SERIES ORGANIZED BY PROFESSORS YOMAIRA FIGUEROA & RAE PARIS.

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