Atravesando: An Aster(ix) Anthology features nineteen writers, both established and emerging, whose fiction and poetry embraces the themes of breaking through and crossing over. The writers hail from all over the country, many of whom inhabit liminal spaces, embodying Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands where the "borders" are often indistinguishable and the characters live in multiple worlds simultaneously. The stories and poems challenge and reveal to us what we trade when we love or are made to love, when we move or are forced to move and how it feels when we experience an unexpected loss. Characters dream of lottery tickets, driving a car, being truly loved; rubber plants, suitcases and misbehaving men are ripped apart; Roosters, husbands and children die. The daughters of Bible-thumping and manipulative mothers, as well as stubborn and ambitious fathers, these women struggle and succeed to carve a space of their own. This book is a true cornucopia of humor, tragedy and sensuality, featuring some of the most compelling and electrifying female protagonists.
Edited by acclaimed writers Angie Cruz and Oindrila Mukherjee, the collection is an essential read. At a time when borders both, psychic and physical, are being threatened and questioned, this anthology reimagines female narratives and the challenges faced by women today.