Sheila Ortiz Taylor

I was born in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, and grew up between there and Toonerville, where my grandmother had raised thirteen children and held court next to the Los Angeles river, until her untimely death. My aunts and uncles would tell stories, then turn to me and say, "Now you write that down, Sheila girl." In every Mexican American family there is an inscriber of stories, the keeper of the family fictions.

It took me a while to understand my role. I married at eighteen, spent time in and out of college, had two daughters, divorced, traveled, and wrote an unpublished novel. When I returned to graduate school at thirty, I was not altogether sure what my course would be. I used to joke that I wanted to be paid for re-reading "Jane Eyre." In 1973 that dream came true when Florida State hired me to teach literature and creative writing. Of course, I did a great deal more than that. It was a rich thirty-three years of teaching and writing.

In the "Works" section below, you'll see listed everything but the unpublished novel. The list includes seven novels, a memoir, and a volume of poetry. I am retired now, living with my partner of twenty years in the retirement community we sued for discrimination. I think writing is not through with me, nor I with writing.