Judith Ortiz Cofer I: Past American Voice

he work of the late Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952-2016) often reflected her Puerto Rican heritage and her childhood in New Jersey. A literary pioneer for Latina writers in the U.S., she wrote 17 books of poetry, fiction, essays, and memoir, and edited and contributed to many others. A beloved professor at the University of Georgia, she was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2010 and received the 2011 Governor’s Humanities Award. In this 1998 interview, the winner of Pushcart and O’Henry Prizes  talks about the challenges of writing while balancing teaching and family life and reads poetry and prose from The Latin Deli.