Goddess of the Americas is a brilliant essay collection and an impassioned, unorthodox celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe: mother goddess, patron saint of Mexico, protector of the downtrodden, who made her first appearance on American soil in 1531. Through a variety of forms -- original essays, historical writings, short fiction, drama, and poetry -- the illustrious contributors to this literary anthology examine the impact this potent deity, the Lady of Guadalupe, has had on the people and culture of Mexico, and her influence beyond that country, in Latin America, North America, and Europe.
An unprecedented contribution to the literature of the Americas, Goddess of the Americas is an invigorating investigation, an idiosyncratic adoration, and a profound recognition of our need for the sacred, unwavering love of the mother goddess.
Francisco Alarcon * Luis Alfaro * Gloria Anzaldua * Ronnie Burk * Rosario Castellanos * Ana Castillo * Denise Chavez * Sandra Cisneros * Felipe Ehrenberg * Clarissa Pinkola Estes * Rosario Ferre * Francisco Goldman * Guillermo Gomez-Pena * F. Gonzalez-Crussi * Nancy Mairs * Ruben Martinez * Pat Mora * Cherrie Moraga * Octavio Paz * Elena Poniatowska * Margaret Randall * Jeanette Rodriguez * Luis Rodriguez * Richard Rodriguez * Miriam Sagan * Luisah Teish * Liliana Valenzuela

Ana Castillo: Introduction

F. Gonzalez-Crussi: The Anatomy of a Virgin

Miriam Sagan: Hotel Flora

Richard Rodriguez: India

Jeanette Rodriguez: Guadalupe: The Feminine Face of God

Francisco X. Alarcón: Tonantzin

Clarissa Pinkola Estés: Guadalupe: The Path of the Broken Heart

Sandra Cisneros: Guadalupe the Sex Goddess

Gloria Anzaldúa: Coatlalopeuh: She Who Has Dominion Over Serpents

Francisco Goldman: Maximón-San Simón

Cherríe Moraga: El mito azteca

Ana Castillo: Extraordinarily Woman

Rosario Ferré: The Battle of the Virgins

Pat Mora: Coatlicue's Rules: Advice from an Aztec Goddess

Liliana Valenzuela: Virgencity, Give Us a Chance

Rubén Martínez: The Undocumented Virgin

Margaret Randall: Guadalupe, Subversive Virgin

Cherríe Moraga: Our Lady of the Cannery Workers

Luis J. Rodríguez: "Forgive Me, Mother, for My Crazy Life"

Luisah Teish: The Warrior Queen: Encounters with a Latin Lady

Rosario Castellanos: Once Again Sor Juana

Ronnie Burk: Retablo

Denise Chávez: Novena Narrativas y Ofrendas Nuevomexicanas

Felipe Ehrenberg: Framing an Icon: Guadalupe and the Artist's Vision

Guillermo Gómez-Peña: The Two Guadalupes

Luis Alfaro: The Doll

Nancy Mairs: Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Soup

Miriam Sagan: Passover

Octavio Paz: The Sons of La Malinche

Francisco X. Alarcón: Tlazolteotl

Elena Poniatowska: "Don't Go Away, I'm Going to Bring You Something"

Notes on the Contributors

Ana Castillo is the author of the novels The Guardians, Peel My Love Like an Onion, The Mixquiahuala Letters, Sapogonia (A New York Times Notable Book), So Far From God, and a collection of poetry, My Father was a Toltec and Selected Poems. She has received an American Book Award, a Carl Sandburg Award, a Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in fiction and poetry. Castillo lives in Chicago.