Reviewed by: Her Texas ed. by Donna Walker-Nixon, et al. Katherine Hoerth (bio) Donna Walker-Nixon, Cassy Burleson, Rachel Crawford and Ashley Palmer, eds. Her Texas. Wings Press, 2015. Her Texas is an ambitious anthology. Filled with everything from essays to songs, from poetry to short fiction, it sets out to do things—one, to establish a written history of the “female lions of Texas,” and two, to define the current state of women’s voices in Texas letters. As diverse as Texas is, that’s no easy task. However, it’s an important one, and the publication of Her Texas is a step in the right direction. In her introduction, editor Cassy Burleson states that “history remembers men.” This is particularly true in Texas. The stories from this state’s long history are often told through the lenses of men, and the stories of women often get overlooked or forgotten. However, through the efforts of literary critics, historians, and essayists, this is changing. One of the important functions of Her Texas is to look back and recover these lost stories, to celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, teachers, pioneers, artists, and storytellers who make up the narrative of this state. The first essay in the collection is an unfinished memoir written by the late Lou Rodenberger, “one of the first women students at Texas A&M University” who went on to be a celebrated teacher, scholar, and writer. It provides some context to the kind of work the editors are furthering. In a sense, they’re walking in Rodenberger’s footsteps of “thinking and writing about” women writers, who, in Texas, seemed “to get short shrift.” Rodenberger’s memoir chronicles her early life and career as a journalist, writer, and school teacher, ending with the publication of her first essay, one that focused on the frontier fiction of Caroline Gordon. In addition to recovering the almost-lost narratives of Texas women, Her Texas also functions to define the current voice of women writers in the state today, ensuring these stories will be a part of history moving forward. The editors picked works from a variety of Texas women writers, and the resulting collection makes space for the voices of women from across the state, spanning different cultures, social classes, and even definitions of femininity and gender. No collection of Texas literature would be complete without at least nodding to the quintessential “cowboy” lifestyle, the “romance of life on horseback.” The essay “A Cowgirl’s Life for Me: The Tale of a Texas Gal’s First Roundup” by Paula A. Reynolds does just that, but with a fresh perspective, that of “the novice (and only female) cowpoke” taking part in a massive cattle roundup on an 80,000 acre ranch about forty-three miles south of Alpine, Texas. The essay recounts her experiences of proving herself among the men by driving cows, vaccinating calves, and even flanking. But of course, Texas has more than the often romanticized cowboy (or girl) culture. “Feeding You” by Carmen Tafolla is a fine example of a poem that expresses what it means to be a Texan through food. The poem opens with the speaker’s declaration—“I have slipped chile under your skin”—and goes on to list different ways a mother feeds her child, and how food becomes part of identity. Tafolla expertly code-switches between English and Spanish, depicting the complexities and nuances of cultural identity in Texas. In addition to illustrating the cultural diversity of Texas women, the anthology opens up discussions of class. “Outsiders,” a piece of fiction by LaToya Watkins reminiscent of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” takes readers into the mindscape of a working class African American woman. In the story, Miesha tries to understand her brother’s wife, Ayira, who comes from a wealthy family in Ghana. The story highlights the two women’s differences and it seems impossible that Miesha will be able to have sympathy for the seemingly spoiled Ayira, but in the end, the two bond over a sense of grief and longing for connectedness. The poem “Rocking in [End Page 66] the Irrawaddy to Walmart” by Charlotte Renk also highlights how class affects...
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Mar 30, 2024
Eun Young Jang + 1
Open Access