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WELLESLEY,
Mass. -- Marjorie Agosín, professor
of Spanish at Wellesley College, has been honored by the
National Hispana Leadership Institute with its 2004
National
Mujer Award. The annual award pays tribute to the sustained
lifetime achievements of Hispanic women who have made significant
contributions to the empowerment and well-being of the
Hispanic community.
“Your ongoing commitment to bringing women and Latina
issues to the forefront through your literacy and artistic
works has earned you this prestigious award,” the
institute wrote in notifying Agosín. “You
certainly exemplify the essence, the vigor and the strengths
of La Mujer Latina.” The awards will be held on Oct.
29 in Orlando, Fla.
“This is very significant for me because it represents
the recognition of my work as a human-rights activist who
has sought to empower the marginalized communities of Hispanic
women in the United States as well as in Latin America,” Agosín
said. “I also remember my own struggles coming to
the United States in the ‘70s without the ability
to speak English or understand the culture. This award,
for me, recognizes the possibilities of dreaming to belong
in all the Americas, as well as the possibilities of constructing
a world with justice.”
Earlier
this year, Agosín published her latest
book, Cartographies: Meditations on Travel (University
of Georgia Press, April 2004), which chronicles her travels
as a way of connecting with inner knowledge. She is the
prolific author of nearly 20 books of poetry, fiction,
nonfiction and essays. A human-rights activist as well
as an author, she was nominated for this year’s prestigious
Newstad Prize for world literature and the government of
Chile has recognized her with a lifetime achievement award,
the Gabriela Mistral Medal of Honor. Her work has been
profiled in Haddasah Magazine, The Boston
Globe and The
Chronicle of Higher Education.
National Hispana Leadership Institute is celebrating its
17th year as the premier leadership program in the United
States that focuses on the development of Hispanic women
leaders. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to the
development of Hispanas as ethical world leaders through
training, professional development, community and world
activism.
Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing
an excellent liberal-arts education for women who will
make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near
Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all
50 states and 68 countries. For more information, go to
www.wellesley.edu.
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