Shame on you if you missed out on hearing Judith Ortiz Cofer this morning! The convention committee never fails to impress this convention goer -- that last keynote speaker is as fabulous as the first (and every one in between). This morning's address "From Silence, To Voice, To Vision" reminded us that we are "students of literature for life" and that literature is "a spell against loneliness." Whether quoting Czeslaw Milosz, "Language is the only homeland," or Sister Rosetta, "you have a hungry mind, don't feed it trash," or telling us that she "made art from the ordinary material of my life," she made us think and laugh and cry.
For more information about Cofer, this Voices from the Gap page, is wonderful place to start: http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/coferJudith.php and this page at the Georgia Encylopedia which links to several of her talks: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-488
I agree! It was a wonderful presentation--warm and funny and moving and thought-provoking. I have some more great quotes from Dr. Cofer:
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"The first and final duty of a writer and a teacher is to listen."
"I have loved literature in any language I could find."
"When you start thinking 'This woman is in love and that man is betraying her' instead of 'This black woman is in love and that Puerto Rican man is betraying her,' then you've come to literature."
"Possessing a language is different from knowing a language."
"Writing takes maturity."