Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952) was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, one of the first Spanish settlements on the island in the sixteenth century. Judith was the first child of a financially struggling young couple. Her father had joined the U.S. Navy shortly before her birth. When she was two years old the family moved to Paterson, New Jersey since the father was permanently stationed in the United States. The move proved harsh for Judith's mother, who found herself at loss in a foreign culture. The family maintained direct contact with Puerto Rican culture by moving back to the island when Cofer's father was on missions overseas. This constant shifting of languages and cultures had a strong impact on Cofer, who has described the experience a

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First published 20 June 2002

Citation: Ocasio, Rafael. "Judith Ortiz Cofer". The Literary Encyclopedia. 20 June 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4978, accessed 9 February 2010.]