Spotlight on Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano

Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano obtained her PhD in Spanish at Harvard University (1976), and a BA with distinction in German from the University of Washington (1970), where she also completed a BA summa cum laude in Comparative Literature (1969). She is now a Professor of Iberian and Latin American Cultures at Stanford University.

Prof. Yarbro-Bejarano is interested in Chicana/o cultural studies with an emphasis on gender and queer theory; race and nation; interrogating critical concepts in Chicana/o literature; and representations of race, sexuality and gender in cultural production by Chicanas/os and Latinas/os.

Prof. Yarbro-Bejarano is the author of Feminism and the Honor Plays of Lope de Vega (1994), The Wounded Heart: Writing on Cherríe Moraga (2001), and co-editor of Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation (1991). She has published numerous articles on Chicana/o literature and culture, and teaches Introduction to Chicana/o Studies and a variety of undergraduate courses on literature, art, film/video, theater/performance and everyday cultural practices. Her graduate seminars include topics such as race and nation; interrogating critical concepts in Chicana/o literature; and representations of race, sexuality and gender in cultural production by Chicanas/os and Latinas/os.

Since 1994, Professor Yarbro-Bejarano has been developing “Chicana Art,” a digital archive of images focusing on women artists. Professor Yarbro-Bejarano is chair of the Chicana/o Studies Program in Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.

Prof. Yarbro-Bejarano is featured in the just released book, Rebozos de Palabras: An Helena María Virmontes Critical Reader (University of Arizona Press), edited by Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs. Her essay is titled, “Phantoms and Patch Quilt People: Narrative Art and Migrant Collectivity in Helena María Viramontes’s Under the Feet of Jesus.”

 A PERSONAL NOTE:

Today I turn 54 years old (yes, that photo of me on the masthead is a bit old). I am a lucky man. I have been in love with my wife for 32 years. Our son, Ben, will graduate from UCLA this year. I have a day job as a government lawyer where I work with committed and interesting people. My eighth book will come out later this year from San Diego State University Press, a collection of essays and interviews with Latin@ writers tentatively titled, Things We Do Not Talk About. And I get to write about Latin@ writers, scholars and artists while spending virtual time with my La Bloga friends. I never fail to be enlightened whenever I read the posts by my fellow blogueras/os in this little corner of the Internet. You all make me so proud.

Mil gracias for reading us.