Versión español

Luz María Umpierre

Known for her academic contributions to the field of Puerto Rican Studies, her writings as a poet and literary critic, and her advocacy work in the areas of human rights, education, and health, Umpierre's multiple professional activities are aimed at confronting the different sources of opression—ethnic, racial, social, and sexual—experienced by Puerto Rican women and other minorities in the United States.

Born and educated in Puerto Rico, Luz María (Luzma) Umpierre came to the United States in 1974 for her graduate education after receiving a B.A. from the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. She later received a doctoral degree from Bryn Mawr College. For many years, she was a faculty member at Rutgers University, Western Kentucky University, and SUNY-Brockport, and was actively involved in the educational advancement struggles of Puerto Ricans and other minority students. She was a fervent advocate of bilingual education and a more inclusive curriculum that reflected the experiences of groups traditionally marginalized by bigotry and intolerance, especially gays and lesbians.

Umpierre's publications include several collections of poetry as well as works of literary criticism. She writes both in Spanish and English and has been widely recognized among Latina poets in the United States although her work is also known in Puerto Rico. Her poetry volumes include Una puertorriqueña en Penna [A Puerto Rican in Penna] (1979), En el país de las maravillas [In Wonderland] (1982), --Y otras desgracias--And Other Misfortunes (1985), The Margarita Poems (1987) and For Christine and One Letter (1995) The latter volume is a particularly important text in the expanding body of work being produced by U.S. Latinas of different national origins. This particular collection represents a courageous affirmation of love among women, adding a new creative voice to the mostly absent /Puerto Rican/Latina lesbian experience. Umpierre's most recent publication is a Hoja Poética under the title Pour Toi/For Moira(2005). highlights the author's personal struggles against the forces of institutionalized racism at U.S. universities, the humiliation and injustices that she endured at one of her former institutions, and her determination to defend academic freedom and promote a more inclusive and liberating learning experience for students. She received a Distinguished Alumnae Award from Universidad del Sagrado Corazon in 2008 for her work in the Humanities.