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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm SteveEmber.

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And I'm Faith Lapidus. Books about the immigrant experience actas a bridge between cultures. They carry readers across borders andhelp them experience the lives of people different from themselves.

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This week, our program looks at the lives of four writers in theUnited States who have strong ties to Latin America and theCaribbean. They are Isabel Allende, Francisco Goldman, JamaicaKincaid and Sandra Cisneros.

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Isabel Allende is one of the mostpopular immigrant writers from South America. She has written manybooks for adults and children. One of her most successful was herfirst book, "The House of Spirits." Mizz Allende based it onmemories of her family and the political crises in Chile where shegrew up.

Isabel Allende was born in nineteen forty-two in Lima, Peru. Herfather was a Chilean diplomat there. But her parents ended theirmarriage when she was three years old.

After her school years, Isabel Allende got married and worked asa reporter for a magazine and for television. Then in nineteenseventy-three her uncle, the president of Chile, Salvador Allende,was murdered in a military overthrow.

In nineteen seventy-five Isabel Allende and her family fled toVenezuela. She based "The House of Spirits" on a letter that shewrote to her grandmother who was dying. The book shows the worldfrom the view of women who suffer but survive the problems theyface. Some of Mizz Allende's other books also deal with this issue.

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Isabel Allende has lived in a number of countries around theworld. Her marriage ended in divorce. A year later, she married aman she had met while in the United States to talk about one of herbooks. That was in nineteen eighty-eight; they have lived inNorthern California ever since.

After a few years in the United States, Mizz Allende wrote a bookcalled "The Infinite Plan." The story is about an American man. Itis set in the United States. "The Infinite Plan" was very differentfrom her other books, which were mostly set in South America. Atleast one book critic noted with praise for Mizz Allende that notmany immigrants write about natives of their new country. But shestill writes in Spanish.

Isabel Allende says she always considered herself a LatinAmerican. But, as she told the New York Times, the terrorist attackson the United States on September eleventh, two thousand one,changed her feelings about her identity.

She describes these feelings in her two thousand three book, "MyInvented Country: A Nostalgic Journey through Chile." Although sheis now an American citizen, Mizz Allende says, "My heart isn'tdivided; it has merely grown larger."

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Another American writer withstrong links to another country is Francisco Goldman. He was born innineteen fifty-four. He grew up in Guatemala City and Massachusetts.His mother came from Guatemala to the United States by herselfbefore the age of twenty. His father was from a family of Russianimmigrants.

Now Francisco Goldman divides his time between Mexico City andNew York City. He is an English professor at Trinity College inHartford, Connecticut.

His first book, "The Long Night of White Chickens," was about aGuatemalan-American man. He travels to Central America toinvestigate the murder of a Guatemalan woman he knew as a child. Thebook received honors. Book critics praised the power with whichFrancisco Goldman dealt with both love and politics in "The LongNight of White Chickens."

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His second book was "The Ordinary Seaman." Fifteen CentralAmerican men are brought to the United States illegally to repair anold ship. But they are tricked by the owners. The ship cannot sailfrom its port in Brooklyn, New York. The men must search for foodand a way out of their situation. Critics again praised MisterGoldman for his writing and storytelling.

For his third book, he wrote a story based on the relationshipbetween Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti and a Guatemalan woman. Thebook is called "The Divine Husband: A Novel."

Francisco Goldman has also written for magazines like The NewYorker and Harper's Magazine. He says reporting and storytelling arenot very different for Latin American writers. He has written bothways about the same issues. These include the war in Guatemala inthe nineteen eighties. Mister Goldman says he writes to try to findthe truth.

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Jamaica Kincaid is another writerwho sets most of her stories in another country. Her books are seton a Caribbean island nation similar to her native Antigua. MizzKincaid was born in nineteen forty-nine. Her parents named herElaine Potter Richardson. She left Antigua when she was seventeen.She changed her name as an adult when she began writing in New York.

Jamaica Kincaid took care of other people's children in New Yorkand went to school. Later, she wrote for magazines. She wrote forThe New Yorker for twenty years.

Jamaica Kincaid published her first book, called "At the Bottomof the River," in nineteen eighty-three. This collection of shortstories is about a young girl growing up in the Caribbean. The bookwas praised for its musical writing style and intense emotion. Sincethen, Jamaica Kincaid's other books have had a similar strong styleand subject matter. Most of her writing is based on her life and herdifficult relationship with her mother.

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The relationship she presents has been compared to that betweenBritain and its former colony, Antigua. Jamaica Kincaid dealt withthe issue directly in her book "A Small Place." She condemnedBritain for its history of slave trade and colonialism, and theeffects on her native land. Some book critics called "A Small Place"too angry. But Mizz Kincaid once said, "The first step in claimingyourself is anger."

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Jamaica Kincaid lives in the state of Vermont with herAmerican-born husband and two children. She wrote about theimmigrant experience in her book "Lucy." Lucy, a Caribbean woman,tries to survive in a strange and difficult environment. She becomesvery critical of American society. How does the writer herself feelabout that society? Jamaica Kincaid says America has "given me aplace to be myself – but myself as I was formed somewhere else."

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Unlike the other writers we havediscussed, Sandra Cisneros was born in the United States. But shewrites mainly about the immigrant experience. Sandra Cisneros is adaughter of Mexican-Americans. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, innineteen fifty-four.

She studied at a writing program in another Midwestern state,Iowa. It was in that program, she says, that she recognized theimportance of her ancestry and her experiences as a woman. She saysthis realization gave her writing its own voice. She has writtenbooks of poetry and fiction.

Her first book was "The House on Mango Street." The book is abouta young Mexican-American girl. She wants to leave the poor part ofthe city where she lives. Later, she accepts and welcomes her ethnicidentity. The book was a huge success. It won many prizes. "TheHouse on Mango Street" is widely read in schools. Other books bySandra Cisneros have also been well-received.

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"Caramelo," published in two thousand three, tells the story of abig Mexican-American family that travels to Mexico City. The bookincludes the history of modern Mexico and how it is closely linkedto United States history.

"Caramelo" deals with cultural identity and women in society. Itdeals with lies and memories. And it deals with childhood andfamily. Sandra Cisneros says it is important that all people in theUnited States understand the lives of Mexican-Americans.

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