Mothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers,
an Anthology Featuring Leading American Writers,
Arrives in Book Stores This Month -- Compiled
by Judith Shapiro, President of Barnard College
New
York, N.Y., April 10, 2001 -- Mothers Through
the Eyes of Women Writers, a tribute to mothers
by some of America's leading women writers, appearing
in the book stores April 19, is the product of
a creative partnership between Barnard College
and Conari Press.
This
memorable anthology of over 45 essays and short
stories about mothers from the perspective of
women writers, previously published in 1998 in
hard cover as The Source of the Spring, is compiled
by Judith Shapiro, the President of Barnard College.
The foreword was written by novelist E.M. Broner,
author of A Wave of Women and The Telling.
In
Mothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers,
daughters explore their perceptions of their mothers;
portraits are often tender, sometimes tough, but
always honest and inspiring. Hettie Jones, author
of How I Became Hettie Jones, has called
the anthology, "A splendid collection on a perennially
interesting subject, featuring some of our finest
contemporary voices."
Among
the recollections in the book's essays, Erica
Jong described the mother-daughter relationship:
"All we know of love come from our mothers.
Yet we have buried that love so deep that we may
not even know where it comes from. If we have
been wounded and have grown scar tissue over our
hearts, we confuse the scar tissue with the heart
itself forgetting the wound that caused it."
Anna
Quindlen, who lost her mother at the age of
nineteen wrote: "I have some small questions
for her and I want the answers: How did she get
her children to sleep through the night? What
was her first labor like? Was there olive oil
in her tomato sauce? Was she happy? If she had
it to do over again, would she?"
Marie Hinojosa reminisced about her mother's
inner voice: "I think back about the time when
I was eight years old growing up in Chicago and
Cesar Chavez was going to be at a rally at our
local supermarket to urge people to boycott grapes.
My mother kept me out of school that day to take
me to the protest. It wasn't like my mother was
a full-time activist back then. She had just heard
about migrant workers who were working in horrible
conditions. She had heard Cesar Chavez was a wonderful
speaker. Who knows why she decided to take me
to that demonstration. I'm sure it was because
something inside told her this was the right thing
to do. But going to that demonstration changed
my life."
Mothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers
is a tour de force by some of today's most formidable
writers, all of whom are Barnard alumnae. It also
contains selected winning essays from the yearly
Barnard/CBS Essay Contest for New York City public
high school junior girls on the topic of 'A Woman
I Admire.'
With
contributions from writers including Natalie Angier,
Anne Bernays, Edwidge Danticat, Francine du Plessix
Gray, Delia Ephron, Mary Gordon, Maria Hinojosa,
Zora Neale Hurston, Erica Jong, June Jordan, Anna
Quindlen, Cathleen Schine, and Mary Tannen, this
book is ideal reading for all mothers and their
daughters.
Barnard
College is a liberal arts college in New York
City, whose mission is to support the talent,
vision, and spirit of women throughout their academic,
social, and professional lives. All royalties
from this book go to the Barnard College scholarship
fund, which supports the work of extraordinary
women like the ones featured in this anthology.
Judith Shapiro, the President of the College,
is one of the leading voices in women's education
today. A distinguished anthropologist specializing
in gender differentiation, she has been published
widely in scholarly journals. Shapiro lives in
New York City.
Contact:
Petra Tuomi, Barnard Public Affairs, (212) 854-7907
Rosie Levy, Conari Press, (510) 649-7183
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