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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter
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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter Paperback - 2004

by Anna Camilleri


Summary

In I Am a Red Dress, acclaimed writer and performer Anna Camilleri confronts the ghosts of her past as she seeks to find her rightful place in the world. Part memoir, part storytelling, Anna writes with passion and conviction about family and identity, and how the wounds of personal history can be healed through the imagination. These eloquent stories and narratives speak to the heart of three generations of women-Anna, her mother, and her grandmother-as they dealt with a cycle of family abuse; in them, the red dress appears as a symbol of defiance and empowerment. Throughout the book, Anna unravels memory that is inextricably tied to culture, class, and tradition, in a strong and beautiful voice that bravely asserts its right to be heard.

From the publisher

A woman in a red dress conjures particular images, emotions and stereotypes. Eroticism. Lust. Passion. With I Am a Red Dress, acclaimed writer and performer Anna Camilleri confronts these images and stereotypes in essays, stories, and poetry.

Combining the political with the intensely personal, Camilleri's intimate writings are premised on a search for selfhood--strong, queer, female--within and outside of her bonds to other women in her family. She says, "My work is motivated by a deep desire to understand, and in the words of Dorothy Allison, to 'remake the world.'"

Despite the perception that we live in a progressive society, Camilleri is not convinced that we live in a world that is necessarily better for women, indigenous people and people of color, queer people, or the poor and the working class. But she recognizes that the imagination is a powerful force that can lead to better lives, and a better world.

I Am A Red Dress is Camilleri conjuring her imagination, as she seeks to find her rightful place in the world. Like a flashing red light, this collection of stories and essays signal a changing of consciousness. It's also Camilleri attempting to unravel memory, a trace that is inextricably tied to her culture and class, and the imaginations of women in her family.

Her voice is the sound the status quo makes as it crashes to the ground.

Anna Camilleri is a Toronto-based writer and performance poet. She was co-editor of Brazen Femme, shortlisted for a Lambda Award, and co-founded Taste This, with whom she collaborated to publish Boys Like Her, winner of a ForeWord Magazine Literary Award.

Details

  • Title I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter
  • Author Anna Camilleri
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 256
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Arsenal Pulp Press
  • Date November 15, 2004
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9781551521633 / 1551521636
  • Weight 0.57 lbs (0.26 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.02 x 5.9 x 0.45 in (20.37 x 14.99 x 1.14 cm)
  • Themes
    • Ethnic Orientation: Jewish
    • Interdisciplinary Studies: Canadiana
  • Library of Congress subjects Canada, Intergenerational relations
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2005362446
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

Citations

  • Multicultural Review, 06/01/2005, Page 71
  • Quill & Quire, 02/01/2005, Page 30

About the author

Anna Camilleri is a Toronto-based writer, and performer. . She co-edited the anthology Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity, a Lambda Award nominee, as well as co-authored Boys Like Her as a member of the Taste This collective. In 2004, she published her memoir, I Am a Red Dress.
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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

by Camilleri, Anna

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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

by Camilleri, Anna

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ISBN 13
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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

by Camilleri, Anna

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ISBN 13
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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter
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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter
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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

by Anna Camilleri

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ISBN 13
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by Anna Camilleri

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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

by Anna Camilleri

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I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

by Camilleri, Anna

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