tatiana de la tierra

tatiana de la tierra[1] (1961-2012) was a Latina lesbian writer born in Colombia, and the creator of the first international Latina lesbian magazine Esto no tiene nombre; the magazine was distributed in various parts of the United States and to many Latin American countries - like de la tierra's homeland, Colombia. Much of her writing was bilingual and bicultural - featuring both the English and Spanish language - and contained very sexual content. Through her work, de la tierra gave voice to LGBTQ people of color, and inspired other writers to speak about sex and sexuality in a very honest and shameless manner.

de la tierra in 2009

Early life

tatiana de la tierra was born in Villavicencio, Colombia on May 14, 1961, and she emigrated from Colombia to the United States in 1969 at the age of eight.[2] de la tierra and her family settled in Homestead, Florida when they arrived in the US, and that was where de la tierra first discovered her passion for books and librarian work.[3] She befriended the head librarian at the elementary school she attended in Homestead, and volunteered at the library. She was trusted by the head librarian so much that she was given a key to the back room where all the sexuality books were kept, and she would peek at these books that contained pictures of genitalia at a young age.[3] Although de la tierra did not come out as lesbian until 1982, she knew she was attracted to females around the time she reached age 10 or 11.[4] When de la tierra was young, she would explore the female body by creating games to play with some of her girl friends that included looking at each other's nipples and vaginas. However, when she became a teen de la tierra desexualized herself because some of her friends and peers made her feel like a freak and outsider for being curious about her sexuality.[4] From then on, de la tierra only had secret crushes on girls; she did not have any romantic partners while growing up. It wasn't until de la tierra graduated from South Dade High School in 1979 and went off to college, that she began exploring her sexual preferences once more.[4]

Although she was aware of her sexuality from a very young age and it later became a very important part of her career as a writer, de la tierra fell in love with poetry before even reading the work of any lesbian writers. Around the time that she was 11, de la tierra read Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Renascence" and was instantly hooked onto poetry.[5]

Career

de la tierra attended Miami-Dade Community College straight out of high school and received her associate degree in 1981; it was there that de la tierra had her first official library-related job as a librarian assistant.[3] She then attended the University of Florida, where she attained her bachelor's degree in psychology in 1984. In the 1990s, de la tierra began editing and publishing Esto no tiene nombre (This has no Name)--which later became known as Conmoción—and it became some of her most famous work.[4]

Esto no tiene nombre

Esto no tiene nombre was a quarterly Latina lesbian magazine that had bilingual content and published the work of other renowned Latina writers like Cherríe Moraga, Achy Obejas, Carmelita Tropicana, Laura Aguilar, Marcia Ochoa, Juana María Rodríguez and Luz María Umpierre.[6] Much of de la tierra's early work was self-published and distributed by-hand at gatherings, including at the Encuentros de Lesbianas Feministas de América Latina y del Caribe [Gatherings of Lesbian Feminists of Latin America and the Caribbean].[7] Esto no tiene nombre actually started off as a magazine with no title, or name, and de la tierra tried to get its readers involved in the process of naming the magazine. After much debate the magazine's name became Esto no tiene nombre.[8] Its title is a symbol of rejection towards the heteronormative label and image of Latina lesbians.[8] Esto no tiene nombre was the first Latina lesbian magazine distributed internationally. The magazine's content and call for activism was inspired by the feminist work of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, and publications such as This Bridge Called my Back.[5]

Themes in her writing

A lot of de la tierra's work challenged heteronormative views. For example, in her poem "an ugly lesbian" de la tierra talks about her own queer desires that deviate from the norm; what she finds attractive is what society would label as ugly.[7] de la tierra became an activist through her work and a lot of the time she felt a need to challenge the stereotypes surrounding lesbianism and what it means to be a woman or woman of color. She also wanted schools to incorporate LGBTQ issues and material into their curriculums; more specifically, she hoped this would happen in all English composition classes from elementary school to high school because this could prevent homophobia and educate kids on the concept of identity.[9] de la tierra's writing style was not only progressive but it was also very humorous and daring. One of Conmoción's issues, published by a collective in San Francisco during one of tatiana's illness, included a quiz titled "100% Latina Lesbian Checklist" that poked fun at the symbol of 100% Latina Lesbian Vision that graced each issue. The quiz was funny and entertaining, giving the readers points for having a "penis-free zone" (hinting at owning any dildos or similar objects).[8] A lot of conservative people were offended by her writing because she spoke and wrote unapologetically. de la tierra did not hold back when it came to eroticism, and she was so free in her speech that her writing was compared to pornography.[10] However, some writers found de la tirras' work inspirational and empowering. de la tierra was shameless about discussing sexuality and this encouraged others to speak freely about sexuality, sex, and the human body as well.[11]

Later work

After a while, Esto no tiene nombre and Conmoción stopped being published for a lack of money.[4] Around the year 1995, de la tierra decided to change her style of writing a bit; she noticed that she had spent a lot of years writing about Latina lesbianism in an effort to give that community a voice, but now she wanted to try writing more about whatever her heart desired or she pleased.[5] de la tierra was diagnosed with Lupus in 1990 and this prompted her decision to try something different and switch up her writing to better herself as an author. She decided to attend the University of Texas at El Paso, where she got her Master's of Fine Arts in creative writing in 1999.[4] When she decided to go back to school, she did it without a specific purpose or goal, she simply felt like going back to school.[5] de la tierra also attained a Master's of library science from University at Buffalo in 2000.[2] Right after graduating from Buffalo, de la tierra started her Jean Blackwell Hutson Library Residency at the University at Buffalo's Undergraduate Library.[3] Two years later, she was hired at that same library as an information literacy librarian. Later on, she moved to California where she became the Director of Hispanic Services at Inglewood Public Library.[3]

Final years and death

de la tierra always struggled with health issues relating to her kidneys, and during her final years she took her health condition into consideration by deciding to stop writing from a Latina lesbian activist perspective and focus instead on other themes of interest.[5] As mentioned, she had a lot of health problems and she was actually told she was in danger of dying multiple times throughout her life, but it wasn't until she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer that de la tierra's fight had to end. Although de la tierra had many goals she had not yet completed by the time she was diagnosed with cancer, such as completing a memoir she was in the process of writing, she was at peace with the thought of death and knew her body had put up a long, hard fight.[4]

de la tierra died on July 31, 2012.[12] Her papers and unpublished materials were donated to the University of California, Los Angeles to be studied.[13]

Selected bibliography

Notes

  1. ↑ "Bicultural writer tatiana de la tierra has died". America Reads Spanish. Retrieved 31 March 2016. (she always insisted on lower case)
  2. 1 2 "Adelina Anthony - Tatiana de la Tierra Fellowship". adelinaanthony.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Member Profile: tatiana de la tierra" (PDF). GLBTRT Newsletter. 19 (4). Winter 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Castro, Nívea; Cabral, Geny, eds. (Summer 2015). "Out Latina Lesbians". Sinister Wisdom. Berkeley, CA: Sinister Wisdom, Inc. 97.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Productora de información género (2010-10-04), Tatiana de la tierra.wmv, retrieved 2016-04-04
  6. ↑ Costa, Maria Dolores (2012-12-06). Latina Lesbian Writers and Artists. Routledge. ISBN 9781136569074.
  7. 1 2 Bost, Suzanne; Aparicio, Frances R. (2012-10-02). The Routledge Companion to Latino/a Literature. Routledge. ISBN 9781136221606.
  8. 1 2 3 Danielson, Marivel T. (2009-08-24). Homecoming Queers: Desire and Difference in Chicana Latina Cultural Production. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813548371.
  9. ↑ Sears, James (2013-01-11). Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Issues in Education: Programs, Policies, and Practices. Routledge. ISBN 9781136614163.
  10. ↑ Rodríguez, Juana María (2003-01-01). Queer Latinidad: Identity Practices, Discursive Spaces. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814775493.
  11. ↑ Torres, Lourdes; Perpetusa-Seva, Inmaculada (2003-01-01). Tortilleras: Hispanic and U.S. Latina Lesbian Expression. Temple University Press. ISBN 9781592130078.
  12. ↑ Lefer, Diane. "In Tribute: tatiana de la tierra".
  13. ↑ "Finding Aid for the Tatiana de la Tierra Papers 1980–2007". www.oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2016-04-12.

tatiana de la tierra webpage

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