How and Why I Write - Redefining Hispanic Women's Writing and Experience

Recent Spanish and Latin American narratives – particularly those written by women – have engaged in a renewed identity search. Combining a broad range of genres associated with both fiction and nonfiction, the works of Isabel Allende, Julia Alvarez, Rosa Montero and Soledad Puértolas transgress traditional generic boundaries in order to recreate an identity. Furthermore, the authors place importance on both the writing technique and the story itself. By foregrounding the writing process the authors aim to reconstruct their professional identities as writers while narrating a story. The resulting works provide an insight into the alternatives available to women and writers in the wake of the millennium.