"This Bridge Called My Back"

The book is edited by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua. Anzaldua is a Chicana poet, and Moraga describes herself as "a very tired Chicana/half-breed/feminist/lesbian/writer/teacher/

talker/waitress" (248), born in Los Angeles and productive first in San Francisco and then Boston. The editors brought the writings in this book together first beginning in 1979, and this later edition has a new introduction that discusses the impact of the book and considers the nature of both writers and readers. The editors have received letters from women whose lives were changed by the earlier edition of the book, women who felt that the writers were speaking directly to them and to their needs. The purpose of the book was to provide a different perspective, a perspective until then ignored by other anthologies:

I think that were Bridge to have been conceived of in 1983, as opposed to 1979, it would speak much more directly now to the relations between women and men of color, both gay and heterosexual

. . .
to people and places they would otherwise be denied. The Bridge in this case is brought about not by a construction project but by writing and by the publication of this book. The image is of these women writers laying themselves down in their writings so that others can climb over their thoughts and their lives to achieve a communion with others. The Bridge is not merely an access but a method of bringing people together. The writings in this book are arranged according to categories which indicate the nature of the works and the social needs perceived as vital by the editors. The writings take a political, feminist stand on matters of community, with the idea specifically of bringing women together around issues of importance to them. The first section introduces the idea of the rite of passage known best by all, the rite of growing up and becoming over time. The writers express the feelings both of themselves as children and of themselves as adults looking back to childhood. They write about children yearning to be white, children abused, children afraid, and children learning to be themselves and to accept what they are. In the second section they address the acquisition of a political sense, the learning of what it
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Francisco Boston, Third World, Richie Five, Donald Richie, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Women Color, Asian Chicana, Anzaldua Chicana, Table Press, Akira Kurosawa, women color, women writers, foreword page, women's movement, foreword page moraga, third world, page moraga, world women, type writing, gloria anzaldua, writings book, third world women, world women writers,
Approximate Word count = 1784
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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