Invisible Dreamer: Memory, Judaism, and Human Rights

INVISIBLE DREAMER, a new collection of original essays by celebrated author, editor, critic, and poet Marjorie Agosín explores the intersections between the role of memory, the struggle for human rights, and the changing definition of Jewish identity. How do the ethical perspectives of Judaism shape a commitment to human rights? What does it mean to be a Jew in Latin America?

INVISIBLE DREAMER follows closely as a companion volume to the anthology MIRIAM`S DAUGHTERS: JEWISH LATIN WOMEN AMERICAN POETS(Sherman Asher Publishing, 2001) as it offers a much needed view of the `other America` and critically considers the impact of Latin America on Jewish identity.

INVISIBLE DREAMER will be utilized in curricula for Women`s Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies, and Multicultural Studies.

"Chile, that long stretch of land that poets have blessed and dictators abused," begins Agosin in this expansive anthology concerning creative writing and human rights. A poet, translator, critic, and advocate of freedom, this Chilean Jewish author is especially attuned to Jewish, feminist, and Latin American writers and the rights of those in exile. She has written some 40 books, and many of the passages here have appeared in various academic journals or were originally parts of speeches delivered throughout the United States. In the early 1970s, Agosin and her family fled Pinochet's regime for the United States, where she entered high school and began what she calls her life as "a person in translation." Having felt like an exile for most of her life (she insists that she is not bicultural), Agosin allows Invisible Dreamer to fulfill her need to speak for the underrepresented. While this book is extremely ambitious in scope, it may be just a little too spread out to do justice to the author's colorful writing, her fascinating life story (and those of her ancestors), and her social consciousness. Each section could have been expanded into a book, and given the author's prolific record, one suspects that they will be. Until then, for the important issues introduced, this is recommended for academic and larger public libraries. Nedra C. Evers, Sacramento P.L.
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