“
Lucha
Corpi
We Chicanos are like the abandoned children of
divorced cultures. We are forever longing to be
loved by an absent neglectful parent - Mexico and also to be truly accepted by the other parent
- the United States. We want bicultural harmony.
We need it to survive. We struggle to achieve it.
That struggle keeps us alive.
”
— Black Widow’s Wardrobe
Biography
Poet, novelist, and children’s book writer Lucha Corpi was born in
a small town in Mexico called Jaltipan in the state of Veracruz, in
1945. She came to Berkeley, California as a young wife and student
at the age of 19. Along with having a child named Arthur, she continued her education and received degrees from UC-Berkeley and San
Francisco State University. She currently lives in Oakland, California
and has been a tenured teacher in the Oakland Public Schools Neighborhood Centers Program since 1977.
Corpi is the recipient of numerous awards and citations, including a
National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Prize in fiction, and the Multicultural Publishers
Exchange Book Award of Excellence in Adult Fiction. She was president of the Centro Chicano de Escritores (Chicano Writers Center),
and she is also a member of the international feminist mystery novel
circle, Sisters in Crime.
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© 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Quick Facts
* Born in 1945
* Chicana poet,
novelist, and
children’s book
author
* Well known
for writing the
Gloria Damasco
mystery novels
This page was researched by
Lisa Griswold, Sandy Hopkins, and Matt Lecheler and
submitted on 5/6/02. It was
edited and updated by Lauren
Curtright on 10/23/04.
Lucha
Corpi
Biography continued
Corpi’s works include two books of poetry, Palabras de Mediodia/Noon Words and Variaciones Sobre una
Tempsted/Variations on a Storm, a children’s book, Where Fireflies Dance/Ahi, Donde Bailen los Luciernagas, the novel Delia’s Song, and four mystery novels, Crimson Moon, Eulogy for a Brown Angel, Cactus
Blood, and Black Widow’s Wardrobe, from the Gloria Damasco series. She is also the editor of Máscaras,
which contains works from 15 Latina writers.
Corpi says she uses her books “to study all forms of racism, from the very blatant -- police harassing
someone just because they’re Mexican American -- to the more insidious racism inside our own families”
(Beitiks). She follows the stories of women and poor people, immigrant struggles, and of historical/mythical figures. Corpi describes her reason for writing as, “I can remember my grandmother saying, ‘There is
no justice in this world.’ I think that’s why I write--to bring justice into the world” (Beitiks). Corpi uses
both Spanish and English in her works. When writing poetry, she uses Spanish, but when writing fiction,
she primarily uses English.
Originally published in 1980, Palabras de Medioda/Noon Words, helped to firmly establish Corpi as a
Chicana poet. The poetry was written in Spanish, and Catherine Rodriguez-Nieto translated it into English. Reissued in 2001, this book explores personal feelings about the role of women, themes of death and
love, and the myth of La Malinche, to name a few. In the preface of the novel, Tey Diana Rebolledo writes,
“This book of poems is a clear lyrical narrative of a woman’s struggle against silence and of the desire to
express herself” (xviii). Within the poetry of the book, Corpi incorporates into her verse ideas of daily-life
experiences, consciousness and feeling, and actors on the stage of history.
Her second book of poetry, published in 1990, is entitled Variaciones Sobre una Tempsted/Variations on
a Storm. This book proves that Corpi’s greatest talent lies in verse. Unfiltered by the standards of a novel,
Corpi’s poetry is a composition of words that are arranged carefully enough to hide a ghost. At times, it
seems that that is what Corpi does. Behind her poetry lies a history of passion and pain. Although it may
be history, it is alive, and very much so in her writing. Corpi has the ability to project her own personal
feelings as one woman onto a larger scale that encompasses her Mexican heritage. The poetry, written in
Spanish and translated into English by Catherine Rodriguez-Nieto, is constructed in such a way that it will
keep you walking through it in order to find its true depths.
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© 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Lucha
Corpi
Biography continued
Lucha Corpi unites imagination with the memories of childhood in her charming children’s book Where
the Fireflies Dance/ Ahi, Donde Bailen los Luciernagas. In this book, she stresses the importance of music,
storytelling, and family in her life, and how these things have helped her to find a path to her own destiny.
Her story begins when, one night as a child, her main character and main character’s brother venture into
the long deserted house of a Mexican revolutionary and local hero, Juan Sebastian. In a folkloric tale, the
grandmother of the two children explains how this heroic man followed his “destiny” to fight and ultimately die for the independence of Mexico. The book has English and Spanish text. The vibrant illustrations by
Mira Reisberg are inspired by Mexican folk art and bring a vivid presence to the characters of the story.
Corpi’s first novel is Delia’s Song, published in 1989. It is a gripping narrative of a young Chicana’s struggle in the trying times of the Civil Rights Movement. The novel tells of how, after growing up in a maleoriented Chicano family that always put her second to her brothers, Delia breaks from this life and moves
to the University of California at Berkeley, only to find there a much more hostile form of oppression. She
becomes part of a student organization that challenges an institution that doesn’t seem to recognize them.
This is all told from a distinct female perspective. The story is written in the third-person narrative point
of view, in which Corpi uses a stream-of-consciousness writing style to form a dramatic expression of the
painful, fearful, and joyful thoughts of her main character. Not only does Delia face the prospects of love
amidst all the student action, but she also copes with the pain of loss, and its ever-present possibility. Years
later, she earns a doctorate but gains no real sense of progress in either her political or her romantic life. The
settings of the story give Corpi an opportunity to poignantly show Delia’s ability to empower herself as an
assertive woman, capable of action on both fronts -- society and in her personal life.
In 1992, Corpi published her first mystery novel, Eulogy for a Brown Angel. In this novel, the Chicana feminist detective Gloria Damasco is born. This novel begins with Gloria and her friend Luisa Cortez finding a
four-year-old boy dead during a Chicano Civil Rights march in Los Angeles in 1970. After having a run-in
with a killer that puts her life in danger, and realizing her need to move on with her life and get back to her
family, Gloria puts the case temporarily behind her. Eighteen years later, after her husband has died and her
child has grown up, Gloria gets back on the case again, this time to solve it for good.
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© 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Lucha
Corpi
Biography continued
An interesting thing about Gloria is her “dark gift” that allows her to dream and see answers to the
puzzles before her. By listening to what her dreams and intuition tell her, Gloria defies the feeling/
reason binary by complicating how she gets her answers to solve crimes. Gloria also deals with numerous political issues in the context of this mystery, including police brutality (during the march),
the clash of feminism and Chicano nationalism, class, poverty, gangs, and the position of women in
motherhood. In this way, the novel is about much more than just the mystery; Corpi uses the work as
a commentary about social institutions and values.
Cactus Blood is the second mystery by Lucha Corpi featuring Gloria Damasco. A review in Publishers Weekly describes Cactus Blood as having “a mildly suspenseful plot” and a “slow narrative. “
This novel opens with a startling image of a women crucified on a cactus. Upon learning that a fellow
activist in the United Farmworkers Strike and grape boycott committed suicide, Damasco becomes
suspicious and an investigation with a fellow investigator/former activist ensues. The story begins in
1973 in the grape vineyards of Delano and leads to a Native American ghost-dancing site. Damasco is
clairvoyant and struggles with dreams and visions of a young woman in trouble, and must deal with
her past in order to solve the case.
Black Widow’s Wardrobe, published by Arte Público Press, is Lucha Corpi’s third novel featuring
Gloria Damasco. The book explores the history and myths of Mexican-American culture amidst a
slow moving plot of retribution and murder. Licia Lecuona (a.k.a. Black Widow) has been released
from prison after murdering her abusive husband. Michael Cisneros hires Gloria to find the assailant
who attempted to kill Licia. Crazy antics ensue as Licia struggles with herself as the reincarnation of
La Malinche and attempts to flee. In this reincarnation, Corpi attempts to rewrite the ill-fated history of La Malinche. Similar to her other books, Corpi’s political and cultural overtones give a strong
voice to an underrepresented Chicano culture. As well as giving agency to Chicana characters in her
books, Corpi makes a strong role model out of Gloria Damasco. A review from the introductory pages
of Black Widow’s Wardrobe says, “Gloria is one of the most original characters in today’s mystery
fiction. She’s tough, vulnerable, smart, and possessed of distinctive skills, not the least of which is her
spiritual ability to see” (Manuel Ramos).
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© 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Lucha
Corpi
Biography continued
In her mystery novels, the political commentary and Chicano symbolism seem equally, if not more
important than the mystery itself. By examining spirituality, race relations, myths in Chicano culture,
and borderland identity, Corpi uses mystery as an outlet for theorizing on many popular topics in
Chicana feminism. Her novels personalize the tribulations and the triumphs of Chicano culture, while
her poetry is written on the cusp of the physical and spiritual worlds, and gives depth to the struggle
of Chicanas. Within this depth, we can see that her work is not entirely a struggle; the space that
she fights for with “the pen and the sword” gives her more room to succeed and always grow. Corpi
relates the distress of many Chicanas’ search for expression of identity. By giving voice to individuals commonly overlooked by the dominant culture, she identifies and gives presence to Chicanas, not
only in literature, but also in a culture that is just opening its eyes to diversity.
Selected Bibliography
Works by the author
Palabras de Mediodia/Noon Words (Arte Público Press, 1980).
Delia’s Song (Arte Público Press, 1989).
Variaciones Sobre una Tempestad/Variations on a Storm (Third Woman Press, 1990).
Eulogy for a Brown Angel (Arte Público Press, 1992).
Cactus Blood (Arte Público Press, 1995).
Máscaras (Third Woman Press, 1997).
Where Fireflies Dance/Ahi, Donde Bailen los Luciernagas (Children’s Book Press, 1997).
Black Widow’s Wardrobe (Arte Público Press, 1999).
Crimson Moon: A Brown Angel Mystery (Arte Público Press, 2004).
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© 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Lucha
Corpi
Selected Bibliography continued
Works about the author
Armstrong, Jeanette. Demythologizing the Romance of Conquest (Greenwood, 2001).
Arreola, Juan Jose. “Prologue to Palabras de Mediodia/Noon Words” (Arte Público Press,
1980).
Beitiks, Edvins. “Creating Poetic Justice: Minority Authors of Mysteries Fight Racist Culture
With Words” (San Francisco Examiner, 2000).
Carabi, Angels. “Belles Lettres Interview: Lucha Corpi” (Belles Lettres, 1991-1992).
Chase, Cida S. “Temática e imágenes prevalentes en Lucha Corpi” in Mujer y literatura
mexicana y chicana: Culturas en contacto, II, ed. Aralia López González, Amelia Malagamba,
and Elena Urrutia (Colegio de México, 1990).
Dessasso, Deborah A. “The Search for Identity by Women in a Marginalized Culture: Three
Approached by Three Latinas” (CEAMagazine: A Journal of the College English Association,
Middle Atlantic Group 9, 1996).
Flys Jonquera, Carmen. “Murder with an Ecological Message: Rudolfo Anaya and Lucha
Corpi’s Detective Fiction” (Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 2001).
González, Maria C. Contemporary Mexican-American Women Novelists (Peter Lang, 1998).
Ikas, Karin Rosa. Chicana Ways: Conversations with Ten Chicana Writers (University of
Nevada Press, 2002).
Keller, Esther and Birgit Röhrig. “Marina-La Malinche: Verrat, Missbrauch und Empowerment
in zwei Chicana-Texten” in La Malinche: Ubersetzung, Interkulturalität und Geschlecht, ed.
Barbara Dröscher and Carlos Rincón (Frey, 2001).
Pearson, Carol. “Writing from the Outside In: Constructs of Memory and Chicanas as Private
Eyes in Three Detective Novels by Lucha Corpi” (Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A
Journal of Criticism and Theory, 2002).
Pérez-Erdélyi, Mireya. “Entrevista con Lucha Corpi: Poetica chicana” (The Americas Review: A
Review of Hispanic Literature and Art of the USA, 1989).
Rebolledo, Tey Diana. Preface to Palabras de Mediodia/Noon Words (Arte Público Press, 2001).
Rodriguez, Ralph E. “Cultural Memory and Chicanidad: Detecting History, Past and Present, in
Lucha Corpi’s Gloria Demasco Series” (Contemporary Literature, 2002).
Steblyk, Cathy. “Corpi, Murakami, and Contemporary Hardboiled Fiction” (CLCWeb:
Comparative Literature and Culture: A WWWeb Journal, 2003).
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© 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Lucha
Corpi
Works in languages other than English
Palabras de mediodia: Noon words: poems, translated into English by Catherine Rodríguez-Nieto (El
Fuego de Aztlán Publications, 1980).
Archives and Special Collections
Lucha Corpi Papers, 1958-1998, CEMA 26, Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara. Finding aid available in the Department of Special Collections. Donated by Lucha Corpi, September 26, 2000.
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© 2009 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.