1. About the Database

With a target of 300 plays and 100,000 pages of poetry and prose, Latin American Women Writers will accomplish the difficult task of bringing together the most important women writers from 19 countries.

Spanning a period from the colonial era to the present day, the literary works, memoirs, feminist essays, and other materials will give researchers the feminine perspective of the development of an entire continent. The writings will also reveal the personal struggles and histories of the authors themselves.

We are licensing in-copyright materials from publishers, estates, archives, and the individual authors themselves to build this comprehensive corpus of texts, all of which will be presented in the original Spanish or Portuguese. As with other Alexander Street Press databases, we will offer related resources, including pamphlets, performance flyers, and programs, that will shed light on the context and themes of the primary content.

The list of targeted writers is extensive, beginning with the autobiographical writing of nuns who, like their 17th-century European counterparts, wrote accounts of their spiritual journeys. Representatives are the works of the Mexican mestiza Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a sister in the Convent in the Order of St. Jerome, a prolific writer of plays, poetry, and other meditative texts.

From the 18th and 19th centuries we have works by Clorinda Matto de Turner (Peru), Juana M. Gorriti (Argentina), Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda (Cuba), Delmira Agustini (Argentina), and Julia Lopes Almeida (Brazil), among others. A number of important figures from the early 20th century are also targeted for inclusion, such as Alfonsina Storni (Argentina), Juana de Ibarbourou (Uruguay), Gabriela Mistral (Chile), and Clarice Lispector (Brazil).

During the second half of the 20th century, the production and publication of women's writing proliferated in Latin America. We aim to include the works of authors such as Rosario Castellanos (Mexico), Elena Poniatowska (Mexico), Victoria Ocampo (Argentina), and Griselda Gambaro (Argentina), which show how the ongoing critique became sharper, more direct, and more feminist. Other women, influenced by broader political currents sweeping these nations during the time, focused on dictatorial regimes, censorship, and themes of exile, as in the works of Luisa Valenzuela (Argentina), Isabel Allende (Chile), and Cristina Peri Rossi (Uruguay).

It is an honor to present the works of these extraordinary women to scholars. Given the diverse backgrounds and cultural heritages represented by the authors, these texts have so much to teach us. As a Latin American woman myself, I am especially proud and grateful to have this opportunity.

I would like to thank Marjorie Agosín for her enthusiasm, Rosiska Darcy do Oliveira for her friendship and guidance, and Claribel Alegria for making me feel connected to this world of gifted women.

Latin American Women Writers is part of the Alexander Street Literature package, which enables researchers to explore the rich literary heritage of diverse cultures from across the globe. New content is added on a biweekly basis, and exciting new materials will be highlighted on the home page, so please check the site often!

Isabel Lacerda
Editor

2. Editorial Criteria

Several bibliographies were consulted in creating the database, and content selection is under the direction of our editors and advisors. Here are some of the bibliographies that helped us create the base of our bibliography:

• Diccionario de Autores Latinoamericanos. Cesar Aira. Buenos Aires: Emece, 2001.
• Historia da Literatura Brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Nova Aguilar, 1997.
• Spanish American Women Writers: a Bio-Bibliographical Source Book. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
• Women Authors of Modern Hispanic America. New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1989.
• Women Writers of Spanish America: an Annotated Bio-Bibliographical Guide. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.

A growing scholarly Editorial Board is assisting us in the development of this outstanding collection. Our current scholarly advisors include:

Marjorie Agosín, human rights activist and writer, is a Professor of Spanish at Wellesley College and an internationally acclaimed poet. Recognized in both North and South America as one of the most versatile and provocative of her generation of Latin American writers, her background defies all concepts North Americans may have of Latin Americans. A native of Chile, Ms. Agosín lived in Santiago until age sixteen. She came to the United States to escape the military coup that overthrew the Socialist government of Salvador Allende. With an extensive list of published works, both poetry and essays about literature and the role of women in the Latin American scene, Marjorie Agosín has been selected by the United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNA-GB) to receive a Leadership Award for her contributions to international understanding and human rights.

Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira, is the president of the Women's Leadership Center, a pioneering initiative to strengthen the leadership capacities of women in Brazil. President of the National Council on Women's Rights from 1995 to 1999, Rosiska has been actively involved with the cause of gender equality for more than thirty years. Co-chair of the Brazilian Delegation to the Beijing Women's Conference, she founded Terra Femina, a women's international task force to promote women's participation in the UN global conferences. A consultant on gender equality and sustainable development to UN agencies such as UNESCO, WHO, UNIFEM, UNDP, she is a permanent member of the Interamerican Development Bank's Advisory Council on Women. She is also the Brazilian representative in the Commission for the Rights of Women of the Organization of American States and a member of UNESCO's International Working Group on Democracy and Development. At the national level, since returning from political exile in 1979, Rosiska has coordinated action programs in the fields of gender equality, reproductive rights, strengthening of civil society and sustainable development. She earned a Ph.D. in Women's Education at the University of Geneva and has lectured at major universities on gender equality, citizen participation, and globalization. Her best-known book, In Praise of Difference: the Rise of Global Feminism, was published by Rutgers University in 1998.

3. Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank the many individuals who have assisted us in the creation of the database. In addition to the help of the editorial board, many individuals have offered wonderful advice. In particular I'd like to acknowledge:

• Monica Herrero, Guillermo Schavelzon Literary Agency, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Lucia Riff, Agncia Literria BMSR, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

And the following people from Alexander Street Press:

• Pat Carlson
• John Cicero
• Graham Dimmock
• Niki Dowdell
• Andrea Eastman-Mullins
• Milena Gruwell
• Michael Kangal
• Christina Keller
• John G. West III
• Will Whalen

4. Subscription and Free Trial Information

Latin American Women Writers is available for one-time purchase of perpetual access, or as an annual subscription. Please contact us at sales@alexanderstreet.com if you wish to begin a subscription or to request a free 30-day trial.

5. How to Contribute Materials or Comments

Our goal is to create a unique archive according to the editorial criteria expressed above. We welcome contributions from organizations and individuals, especially if you have materials that are unpublished or of unique interest. Submitting materials to our editors is easy and without obligation on your part.

6. Copyright and Performance Rights

All materials in the database are protected under U.S. and International Copyright Law. Fair use under the law permits reproduction of single copies for personal research and private use. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of protected items requires the written permission of the copyright owners.

Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that plays and materials in this database are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and all other countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the British Commonwealth and Canada), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including but not limited to professional, amateur, motion pictures, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, including information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.

Plays from this collection may not be performed without securing permission from the appropriate copyright holders, as listed in the bibliographic display for each play. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of readings, permission for which must be secured in writing. All production rights reserved. Under no circumstances may any electronic form (CD-ROM, online, or other local storage medium) be used to create production copies of the plays.

Specific performance rights information for each play can be found in the bibliographic detail display for that play. Alexander Street Press makes no guarantee that this information is correct. For plays where no performance rights information is listed Alexander Street Press does not warrant that no performance rights exist.

We are eager to hear from any rights owners who are not properly identified so that appropriate information may be provided in the future. Please e-mail the editor at editor@astreetpress.com.

7. Cataloging Records

We will be making MARC records available for this collection. Please ask your customer service representative for details.