I don't mind categories, but these publications are keeping me from being seen as I really am, which is a student of world literature and interested … - Judith Ortiz Cofer

My personal goal in my public life is to try to replace the old pervasive stereotypes and myths about Latinas with a much more interesting set of realities. Every time I give a reading, I hope the stories I tell, the dreams and fears I examine in my work, can achieve some universal truth which will get my audience past the particulars of my skin color, my accent, or my clothes.

for two years the manuscript was circulating around New York, and my agent was getting rejections like, "It's beautifully written, but who wants to read about poor Puerto Ricans?”

I was born a white girl in Puerto Rico but became a brown girl when I came to live in the United States.