La Voz de Galicia – April 20, 2018 →
I am sure that I read Agnanórise in my adolescence and, years later, I still remember its characters. But I don’t remember studying her; like many other invisible women in science, art, and literature, María Victoria Moreno Márquez was simply not a part of any of my textbooks.
I was speaking with my colleagues about the significance of not studying or reinforcing feminine references in the world of culture or academia, and then, when we do it, we choose a single woman to cover the subject, and she then becomes the one who bears the weight of all other women on her back. Our conversation grew out of the fact that our tour is composed of ten men and one woman on stage, and I joked around with the idea that if I failed to play Messiaen, in a way I failed for all women…
Since 1963, we celebrate Galician literature on May 17, the day on which Rosalía de Castro’s Cantares Gallegos (Galician Songs) was published. And each year the celebration focuses on a contemporary figure in Galician literature. Since 1963 until 2018, I believe that only three women have been recognized, including Rosalía. María Victoria Moreno will be the fourth.
And since next Monday will be World Book Day, I asked my husband to get me—in New York—ten books in Galician written by ten contemporary women authors. And here begins the challenge: how many of us are able to name ten women, still alive, in Galician literature? And why is it so difficult?
There are women galore, loaded with stories as thrilling and exceptional as they are powerful. My endless list includes, among many others, Inma Lopez Silva, Yolanda Castaño, María Solar, María Reimóndez, Carmen Blanco, María Xosé Queizán…And yours?
