"No Mexican writer since Rosario Castellanos has explored the intersections of gender, class and ethnicity as powerfully as Poniatowska. Professor Jörgensen's subtle analysis is the first book-length study of the works of this tantalizingly complex feminist author, whose importance and originality have yet to be appreciated in this country."

—Cynthia Steele, author of Politics, Gender, and the Mexican Novel, 1968-1988

Elena Poniatowska is one of Latin America's most distinguished and innovative living writers. Advocacy of women and the poor in their struggle for social and economic justice, denunciation of the repression of that struggle, and a tendency to blur the boundaries between conventional literary forms characterize her writing practice.

Asserting that Poniatowska's writing has been uniquely shaped by her experience as a journalist and interviewer, Beth Jörgensen addresses four important texts: Palabras cruzadas (interviews), Hasta no verte Jesús mío (testimonial novel), La noche de Tlatelolco (oral history), and La "Flor de Lis" (novel of development). She also treats related pieces, including Lilus Kikus (short fiction), De noche vienes (short stories), Fuerte es el silencio (chronicles), and several of Poniatowska's essays. Her readings incorporate a variety of critical approaches within a feminist framework.