Let's see.
I've got stuff.
What is that?
Recall a natural herb.
No, that's not Judy.
It is with great pleasure that I introduce Judith Ortiz
Cofer, who is by now I guess we could say old friends.
Yeah.
OK.
In keeping with tradition, I'm going
to make the introduction short.
Alison suggested that I might tell some personal stories
about Judy to get things started,
but each one I came up with she forbade me to tell.
So I'll simply do the numbers.
Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in Puerto Rico
and grew up in Paterson, New Jersey.
Actually, we were talking tonight about something
that Judy is interested in, which
is writing autobiographically, but having
license to lie about oneself.
And we discovered that she's actually
Hilda Nordstrom from Oslo.
[LAUGHTER]
Her books are two books of poems--
Reaching for the Mainland and Terms of Survival.
Her novel The Line of the Sun was the first novel
published by the University of Georgia Press.
She also has a book of essays and poems, Silent Dancing,
which won a special citation--
the PEN Albrand award.
The title essay from it was chosen
by Joyce Carol Oates for inclusion
in the best American essays.
She'll be teaching at both the University of Michigan
and Georgia, though not simultaneously this year.
With great pleasure, Judith Ortiz Cofer.
[APPLAUSE]