During the past two decades, literary issues such as multiculturalism, gender, borders and border crossing, and the development of personal, cultural, and alternative identities have become increasingly important. The same years have seen the flourishing of writers from a number of ethnic minorities, including the Mexican-American women who are the subjects of these probing and insightful interviews by Karin Rosa Ikas. The interviews, which address such topics as personal background, education, sense of ethnic and gender identity, the origins and intention of published works, and general views on writing, culture, and art, reveal a rich multiplicity of Chicana voices and views. The writers come from Texas, New Mexico, and California; their connections to Mexico are as direct as having been born there and as tenuous as having descended from a family resident in New Mexico for more than four centuries. Their backgrounds reflect a wide range of socioeconomic realities, and their views on gender, sexuality, race, and writing are equally diverse. Yet to each of these writers, her identity as a Chicana and as a woman is critically important to her evolution and purpose as a writer. Chicana Ways will be essential reading for anyone interested in multicultural and feminist literature and will serve as compelling documentation of the rich diversity and brilliance of contemporary Mexican-American writing.
