Writing that Matters: A Handbook for Chicanx and Latinx Studies

Have you ever wanted a writing and research manual that centered Chicanx and Latinx scholarship? Writing that Matters does just that.

While it includes a brief history of the roots of the fields of Chicanx literature and history, Writing that Matters emphasizes practice: how to research and write a Chicanx or Latinx history paper; how to research and write a Chicanx or Latinx literature or cultural studies essay; and how to conduct interviews, frame pláticas, and conduct oral histories. It also includes a brief chapter on nomenclature and a grammar guide. Each chapter includes questions for discussion, and all examples from across the subfields are from noted Chicanx and Latinx scholars. Women’s and queer scholarship and methods are not addressed in a separate chapter but are instead integral to the work.

For years Professors Heidenreich and Urquijo-Ruiz waited for a writing and research manual that was rooted in critical Chicanx and Latinx studies. Now, they have crafted one.

L Heidenreich is a professor of history at Washington State University and the author of “This Land Was Mexican Once”: Histories of Resistance from Northern California and Nepantla2: Transgender Mestiz@ Histories in Times of Global Shift.

Rita E. Urquijo-Ruiz is a Mexicana/Chicana fronteriza queer educator, translator, writer-activist, and performer. She is a professor of Spanish and Chicanx studies, queer studies, and global Latinx studies at Trinity University. She authored Wild Tongues: Transnational Mexican Popular Culture.