5 amazing women. 5 places in the world. But only 1 place to learn about them. Enjoy!
Monica Roberts
Monica Roberts was a transgender advocate and journalist and was born on May 4, 1962 in Houston, Texas. She founded the blog TransGriot which focused on issues faced by trans women, especially those of color. She started her blog in 2006, at a time trans women issues weren’t being discussed, especially when they were a minority. She described her blog as “A proud unapologetic Black trans woman speaking truth to power and discussing the world around her”. She also won the GLAAD award for Outstanding Blog in 2018. She died on October 5th, 2020 from natural causes. We must honor her for all she has done for the trans community and the world, in general.
Park Wan-Suh
Park Wan-Suh was an award winning writer of many famous books such as Who ate all the Shinga? and Three Days in That Autumn. She was born in Gapyeong-gun on October 20th,1931. When she was younger, she was accepted into the Seoul National University, the most prestigious in Korea, but dropped almost immediately because of the death of her brother and the outbreak of the Korean War. During the war, she was separated from her elder brother and mother by the North Korean Army. These two incidents were said to influence her later writings. She died on January 22, 2011 from cancer.
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros is Chicana poet, author, and artist who was born on December 20, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. She is best known for her debut novel The House of Mango Street which has sold over 6 million copies and has been translated into over 20 languages. It tells the story of a girl named Esperanza. Her work has been inspired by working-class immigrant families and the Hispanic experience. She has won many awards such as the Chicago’s Fifth Star Award, the PEN Center USA Literary Award, the Fairfax Prize, and the National Medal of the Arts awarded to her by President Obama in 2016.
Assia Djebar
Assia Djebar, born in 1936, was an Algerian writer and filmmaker. Her debut novel La Soif (translated as The Mischief) highlights Algerian women, how they feel about themselves and how society feels about them. Several books of hers describe feminism and female contributions to key events in Algeria such as the War of Independence. In addition, Djebar began making films, and her first one came out in 1978. Nouba des femmes du mont Chenoua described an Algerian engineer’s life and story. The movie earned the Critics Prize at the Venice Biennal award in 1979. Djebar also became the first author from the Maghreb to be elected to the French Academy in 2005.
Sia Figiel
Sia Figiel is a Samoan poet and author. Her first novel Where We Once Belonged was a bestseller in New Zealand, and earned her the respected Commonwealth Writers prize. This was a breakthrough for her, and Somoan women in general, as the book became the first one written by a Somoan female to be published in the United States. They Who Do Not Grieve, another book written by Figiel, describes descrimination towards Somoan females through the eyes of twin sisters. In addition, she has written several poems such as Dreams and The Circle Song. Unfortunately, Figiel was diagnosed with diabetes at 36. She continues to be a role model to guide others in similar circumstances, as she campaigns to prevent diabetes and assist those with it.
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Monica Roberts:
Park Wan-Suh:
Assia Djebar:
Sia Figiel: