Espinosa has taught at New College of California, City College of San Franciso and elsewhere. She is the author of the novels Longing (Arte Público, 1995; Wings Press ebook 2011) and Dark Plums (Arte Público, 1995; Wings Press ebook 2011), and Incognito: The Journey of a Secret Jew (Wings Press, 2002; ebook 2011), and Dying Unfinished (Wings Press, 2009; ebook 2011). Longing received the American Book Award in 1996, and has been translated into Greek; Dying Unfinished received the PEN Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence in 2010. Espinosa is also the author of two books of poetry, Night Music and Love Feelings. She translated George Sand’s novel, Lélia, which was published by the Indiana University Press.
Espinosa’s poetry, articles, translations, and short fiction have appeared in numerous anthologies and periodicals, including Anthologies of Underground Poetry, edited by Herman Berlandt, In other Words: Literature by Latinas of the United States, edited by Roberta Fernández, and George Sand’s Ma Vie, edited by Thelma Jurgrau. An interesting midnight interview with the Israeli writer, Amos Oz, appeared in Three Penny Review.
For more complete biographical information, go to:
www.wingspress.com or www.mariaespinosa.com
Critical Praise for María Espinosa’s Dying Unf inished
Some years ago when María Espinosa was still my student, she presented me with a novel, entitled Longing, she had written about her eccentric husband from Chile, Antonio, in the book. The narrative was so alive and convincing, it sounded more like a slice of life, a document. A number of other novels followed, until the present one, Dying Unfinished, which takes up the main characters of Longing, who are now seen from a distance of many years. The first novel was a brave act of defiance because it involved her family. Now most have disappeared, and the present novel is a memorial, a work of devotion towards mother, father, husband, daughter, brothers, and related lovers and friends. It is a tableau of complicated relations in which the mother is the central figure, and Rosa the daughter, still plays the role of observer, narrator, and actor in the story. Once more Espinosa shows her skill in bringing to life and literature her story, in a very unusual family novel. This time it’s not scandal, but the dual points of view of mother and daughter that make it live. My advice to readers is to read them both, to complete this dual tableau which makes fascinating open-ended reading.
—Nanos Valaoritis, author of Pan Daimonium, My Afterlife Guaranteed; editor of An Anthology of Modern Greek Poetry
Espinosa presents the themes of alienation and incompleteness in alternating sequences between Eleanor, an artistic-minded, assimilated Jew from a wealthy but politically progressive family and her equally artistic daughter, Rosa. Eleanor is constantly torn between her desire for her dream of freedom and the structures that confine and define her to the world…. As with the unnamed hustler in John Rechy’s City of Night, Eleanor seeks her essence in a series of anonymous sexual encounters. Sex, the most primal currency of communication, becomes her nexus to the natural world of desire, dreams, and identity…. Dying Unfinished is more than a fascinating portrait of creative souls alienated in a materialistic world; it is a brilliant discourse in the search for the language of silence and otherness with the human soul.
—Rosa Martha Villarreal, author of The Stillness of Love and Exile, Chronicles of Air and Dreams, and Doctor Magdalena
María Espinosa’s Dying Unfinished is not a novel. It is a long poem of great lyrical beauty, a deftly-written tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, told in the intimate voices of Eleanor and Rosa, a mother once a daughter and a daughter now also a mother. Their stories resonate in the heart of every daughter who seeks her self-realization as an entity separate from her mother, and of every mother who fiercely protects her autonomy from family demands. Carving an identity from damaged tissue, from scars and wounds left us by the most significant and complex relationship in our lives requires analytical and surgical precision but also compassion and the strength of convictions. To confront memory, that merciless, relentless accountant, who always arrives with the books of rancor, regret and sorrow neatly tucked under her arms, demands an enormous amount of courage. Elusive for Eleanor till the end of her days, these are the lessons of the heart Rosa learns, for it isn’t until the fluid connectedness of mind and spirit is restored and the essence of dreams recovered that forgiveness of self and others is possible. Bravo! Gracias, María.
—Lucha Corpi, author of Palabras de Mediodia, Eulogy for a Brown Angel, Cactus Blood, Black Widow’s Wardrobe, Crimson Moon, and other writings.
Maria Espinosa’s daughter and mother yearn for contact – who among us does not! – and the sensation of being consumed is overwhelming. This novel takes the reader into eerie alleys of the heart with language as beautiful as the gardenia, sometimes delicate, sometimes full-bown, always pervasive and alluring.
—Clive Matson, author of Chalcedony’s First Ten Songs and Let the Crazy Child Write
Critical Praise for Longing
Longing, an immensely moving and intelligent book, describes with great depth and compassion the process of individual evolution … the connection to our fellow creatures that we have been trying for ages to deny and at the same time longing for….
— Lynn Gray, FM Five
The story, taken in its entirety, is a serious and interesting study in perceptual relatives. The focus is near obsessional: Is Rosa the victim or is Antonio?”
—Penny Skillman, San Francisco Chronicle
Critical Praise for Dark Plums
Espinosa explores abuse—physical, sexual, emotional—as metaphors for women’s subjugation and degradation…. Chilean-born Adrianne, of Espinosa’s Dark Plums, goes from nearly nonstop casual sexual encounters with men and women to brutal prostitution but ultimately emerges with a whole, if bruised, identity…. Appropriate for Latino and women’s literature collections in academic and large public libraries.
—Library Journal
Novelist Maria Espinosa is concerned with human communication that transcends the norms usually permitted by society. She is particularly adept at capturing the distinctiveness of multicultural communities in the United States, including Hispanic, Jewish, and rural communities.
—Roberta Fernández, Editor of In Other Words: Literature by Latinas of the United States, author of Intaglio.
Brilliant, deftly written, Espinosa’s Dark Plums is the story of innocent-but-knowing Adrianne. It is not a love story, if by that one means a romantic or fairy tale. But Dark Plums is a story of love wrought out of desire, passion, and a need for tenderness in the sultry depths of mind and heart. Brava!
—Lucha Corpi, author of Palabras de Mediodia, Eulogy for a Brown Angel, Cactus Blood, Black Widow’s Wardrobe, Crimson Moon, and other writings.
Wings Press was founded in 1975 by Joanie Whitebird and Joseph F. Lomax, both deceased, as “an informal association of artists and cultural mythologists dedicated to the preservation of the literature of the nation of Texas.” Publisher, editor and designer since 1995, Bryce Milligan is honored to carry on and expand that mission to include the finest in American writing—meaning all of the Americas, without commercial considerations clouding the choice to publish or not to publish.
Wings Press produces multicultural books, chap-books, CDs, DVDs, ebooks and broadsides that, we hope, enlighten the human spirit and enliven the mind. Everyone ever associated with Wings has been or is a writer, and we know well that writing is a transformational art form capable of changing the world, primarily by allowing us to glimpse something of each other’s souls. Good writing is innovative, insightful, and interesting. But most of all it is honest.
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The Wings Press edition of Dark Plums, by María Espinosa, is available as an ebook in all formats, and as a print-on-demand paperback, printed on 55 pound non-acidic EB Natural paper by Edwards Brothers, Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Titles have been set in Parisian display type, the text in Adobe Caslon Pro type. All Wings Press books are designed by Bryce Milligan.
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