SHEREZADA (CHIQUI) VICIOSO

I started writing when I was very young and found out that the best way to
pass Math was to write a poem to the teacher. . . . I began to become
aware of the marginalized people in my country when I was an adolescent
and worked in the barrios as part of a Christian youth volunteer group.
Basically I am a poet, but I also write criticism about women's literature. I
began to write in 1978 and published my first book of poetry, Viajes desde el
agua, in 1981.

Up until about 1977, I regarded literature as a hobby of the petite
bourgeoisie, but when I went to Cuba and spoke there with writers whom
I very much admired, they showed me that a writer is also a cultural
worker. Whereas I took note of this fact on an intellectual level, I realized it
on an emotional one only when I went to Africa in 1978. I started writing
criticism from 1982 on and published my second book in 1985 ( Un extraño
ulular traía el viento).

Both my books were written for Dominicans and were published in
Santo Domingo. I never thought of publishing in the United States be-
cause, as a Latina, I felt unable to deal with the publishing establishment
in that country. My first book was presented at the Las Americas book-
shop and other places for Latinos in New York. After all, New York is the
second most important city for Dominicans. The island has six million

The above interview with Dominican poet Chiqui Vicioso was taped and subsequently trans-
lated by Nina M. Scott at the Segundo Congreso de Creación Femenina, University of
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 17, 1987. Sincere thanks go to the staff of the University of
Mayagüez who aided in the making of the tape.

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