Amid detective stories and commentaries on mid-20th century politics,
Lozada-Oliva’s writing, centering on the experience of being a second-generation American,
immediately stood out. As a child of immigrants, her description of having simultaneous desires
to assimilate to the predominant culture and to embrace her parents’ cultures (and ultimately, a
desire to simply belong to and be able to identify with one of those cultures) especially resonated
with me. What struck me the most was the contrast between reading and hearing her poems, and
how each form brought a new perspective to her writing yet conveyed the same message—for
example, I found her speaking voice to be more assertive than her writing voice, which seemed
more timid. My paper will compare the differences and similarities in the two forms of poetry,
and how her more casual, almost stream of consciousness tone contributed to the sense of
desperation to belong and the dissonance between her and those around her: both her
Guatemalan mother and her American friends. As well, the devices often used throughout her
poems, such as the inclusion of Spanish or Spanglish words and phrases, the use of irregular
punctuation for emphasis rather than for clarity, and how the themes she focuses on in these two
pieces specifically connect with each other and with the ulterior theme of identity and belonging.
I’ll discuss how her poetry compares to her nonfiction writing and to Sandra Cisneros’ writing,
which she names as her hero in one of her interviews. My biggest challenge will be finding
secondary resources for the historical context of these poems, as her writing is based less on a
specific time period and more on a specific experience. I certainly have a lot in terms of analysis
on the poetic form, her spoken performance, and the themes of the poems themselves, but I will
have to work on backing these opinions up with other sources as well as situating her writing
within historical and cultural context.