These representative works by early Spanish American women writers are the first to be made available in a bilingual edition. The texts provide an overview of writers from the Colonial period to the nineteenth century. They include an exploration account, the vida of a mystic, an autobiography of a transvestite, poetry by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, essays, and two novellas.While all of the writers shared being white and literate, their life experiences were extremely diverse, and themes of repression, both personal and political, permeate the collection. Scott's introduction emphasizes the networks of friendship and support among women writers that developed, especially in the nineteenth century. The new translations make many of these texts available to English-speaking readers for the first time.Madres del Verbo/Mothers of the Word will be welcomed by students and scholars of Spanish literature and culture and Latin American Studies."This well-researched and pioneering work will be of interest to scholars in the disciplines of Spanish and Spanish-American letters, History, Sociology, and Women's, American, and Ethnic Studies."--Jennifer L. Eich, Loyola Marymount University"This book usefully contributes to an expansion of the literary canon in Spanish-American writing, in a format that will be practicable for teaching as well as scholarly consultation."--Amanda Powell, University of Oregon