Ruth Behar

Ruth Behar was born in Havana, Cuba and moved to New York with her family when she was a child. She is the Victor Haim Perera Collegiate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Among her honors, she is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Award, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Distinguished Alumna Award from Wesleyan University. Her books include The Presence of the Past in a Spanish Village, Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza’s Story, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart.

In her recent books, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba and Traveling Heavy: A Memoir in between Journeys, she writes about her unending search for a sense of home. She is the editor of Bridges to Cuba, and co-editor of Women Writing Culture and The Portable Island: Cubans at Home in the World. Her documentary, Adio Kerida/Goodbye Dear Love: A Cuban Sephardic Journey, has been shown in festivals around the world. As much a provocative scholar as a creative writer, Ruth is also known for her essays, poetry, and fiction. Her literary work can be found in Telling Stories: An Anthology for WritersKing David’s Harp: Autobiographical Essays by Jewish Latin American WritersBurnt Sugar/Caña Quemada: Contemporary Cuban Poetry in English and SpanishThe Norton Anthology of Latino Literature. Collections of her poems have published in Spanish and English bilingual editions with Ediciones Vigía, an artisanal press in Matanzas, Cuba.