I learned a new word when I studied today’s woman writer Nicholasa Mohr: Nuyorican. This means “New York Puerto Rican.” I started my friendship with her just this morning. I was surprised how few women writers I could find with an N first name. Now that I have my profile written, I will stumble along countless N authors!
She was born in El Barrio in Manhatten in 1938 to parents from Puerto Rico and was raised primarily in the Bronx. Her father died when she was only eight-years-old. To help her through her grief process, her mother gave her pencils, crayons and paper to express her feelings through art and writing. She found solace and more in these materials. She said, “"by making pictures and writing letters I could create my own world … like 'magic.'"
Her mother died when she was in high school leaving her aunt as a guardian. While she loved Nicholasa, her love was not embued with encouragement. She approved of Nicholasa enrolling in a seamstress program, thinking simply that this was the path for a young Puerto Rican girl. Thankfully with the stubborn and strong spirit she inherited from her mother, she pursued an artist’s education through the Art Students League in New York.
She leveraged her education into a career as a fine artist and finally, a writer.
Nicholasa saw a hole in literature. There weren’t any books about girls and women like her. There weren’t any books told through the eyes and heart of a Puerto Rican girl or woman so she started to write one and another and another and another. She has written plays and films as well.
I read a review of her book, Nilda, by Daniel Mackler which said, “Finally, I get to read a young adult coming-of-age book that doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't! It isn't a grandiose book of romance and drugs and wonder, with the teenager becoming a hero or tragic hero. It's just a simple story of a poor New York born Puerto Rican girl hitting her adolescence during WWII.”
I don’t know about you, but simple stories are my favorite perhaps because they remind me the most of me.
I am so grateful you are reading!
Tomorrow we will feature Octavia Butler, the first successful African American woman Science Fiction Writer. She said, “I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell.”
Me, to, Octavia… Me, too!
This blog post is an entry in the A to Z Challenge. Each day in April (except Sundays) I will be featuring a woman in literary history. If you click on the logo below, you will be introduced to the writing of more than a thousand bloggers writing on a wide variety of topics in April, all from A to Z!
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She teaches a teleclass/ecourse "Discover the Power of Writing & Telling Engaging, Enlightening Stories" which begins again April 19, 2012. Find details by clicking this link.
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