Ana María Simo
Encyclopedia
Ana María Simo is a New York playwright, essayist and novelist. Born in Cuba
, educated in France
, and writing in English, she has collaborated with such experimental artists as composer Zeena Parkins
, choreographer Stephanie Skura and filmmakers Ela Troyano and Abigail Child.
She has also made important contributions as a lesbian activist, co-founding projects such as Medusa's Revenge, the first lesbian theater in New York, the direct action group The Lesbian Avengers
, Dyke TV, and The Gully online magazine.
, Cuba in 1943, and moved to Havana
with her grandmother on the eve of the 1959 revolution. She was 15 when she began working as a journalist and 18 when her first book was published: Las fábulas (The Fables), a short story collection. The book was published by Ediciones El Puente
, a literary and publishing project (1961 to 1965) which Simo co-directed along with its founder, the poet José Mario Rodríguez.
Simo immigrated first to Paris
(Dec. 1967), where she attended Roland Barthes
’ seminar and studied sociology and linguistics at the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes (1968-1972). In the mid-1970s she settled in New York, where she began her career as an English-language writer. Her association with playwright/director Maria Irene Fornes
’ theater workshop throughout the 1980s was pivotal in her development as a writer.
Some of her most notable works includes her 1990 play "Going to New England" produced at the INTAR theater. The New York Time's Stephen Holden gave the production mixed reviews, but also wrote that the play itself succeeded as "a study in physical and emotional claustrophobia" examining the traditions of Latin American machismo, Roman Catholic values, and erotic taboos.
Simo's "The Bad Play," a 1991 dance-theater collaboration with choreographer Stephanie Skura, also reviewed in The New York Times, was described as "a very broad and very funny parody" of the Hispanic soap opera with philandering doctors and cantankerous mothers-in-law.
Her 1989 short film, How to Kill Her, with Ela Troyano, premiered at the Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival and later went on to win first place in The Latino Film and Video Festival.
Simo's work has mainly been produced in New York City by venues including P.S. 122, Theater for the New City, INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, the New York Shakespeare Festival's Latino Festival, Duo Theatre, and the WOW Café.
In 1976 in New York, she co-founded the lesbian theater Medusa's Revenge with actor and director Magaly Alabau. In her book, Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America, Sarah Schulman
writes,
In 1992, Simo co-founded the direct action group The Lesbian Avengers
with longtime lesbian activists Maxine Wolfe, Anne-Christine d'Adesky
, Sarah Schulman
, Marie Honan, and Anne Maguire. The original group's sole stated focus: "Lesbian survival and visibility." The Lesbian Avengers
inspired chapters worldwide. One of its long-term accomplishments is the annual Dyke March
in New York City.
Shortly afterwards, along with video producer Mary Patierno and theater director Linda Chapman, she created Dyke TV. The half-hour television program produced by lesbians, for lesbians was aired on Public-access television
across the United States for more than a decade. It included a mix of news, political commentary, the arts, health, and sports.
Simo also co-founded The Gully online magazine (2000-2006) with writer and activist Kelly Cogswell, "to encourage activism and redefine and expand gay issues." It offered queer views of international news, U.S. politics, activism, race, class, LGBT issues, and included a Spanish edition.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, educated in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and writing in English, she has collaborated with such experimental artists as composer Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins is a harpist active in rock music, free improvisation and jazz. Parkins plays standard harps, as well as several custom-made one-of-a kind electric harps; she also plays piano and accordion...
, choreographer Stephanie Skura and filmmakers Ela Troyano and Abigail Child.
She has also made important contributions as a lesbian activist, co-founding projects such as Medusa's Revenge, the first lesbian theater in New York, the direct action group The Lesbian Avengers
Lesbian Avengers
The Lesbian Avengers began in New York City in 1992 as "a direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility." Dozens of other chapters quickly emerged worldwide, a few expanding their mission to include questions of gender, race, and class.Though some groups continue...
, Dyke TV, and The Gully online magazine.
Writer
Ana María Simo was born in CienfuegosCienfuegos
Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of Cienfuegos Province. It is located about from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur...
, Cuba in 1943, and moved to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
with her grandmother on the eve of the 1959 revolution. She was 15 when she began working as a journalist and 18 when her first book was published: Las fábulas (The Fables), a short story collection. The book was published by Ediciones El Puente
Ediciones El Puente
Ediciones El Puente was a literary project for young writers in Cuba just after the 1959 revolution. Between 1961–1965 they published each other's work, introduced dozens of new voices, and held readings and performances....
, a literary and publishing project (1961 to 1965) which Simo co-directed along with its founder, the poet José Mario Rodríguez.
Simo immigrated first to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(Dec. 1967), where she attended Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...
’ seminar and studied sociology and linguistics at the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes (1968-1972). In the mid-1970s she settled in New York, where she began her career as an English-language writer. Her association with playwright/director Maria Irene Fornes
María Irene Fornés
María Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award for Promenade and her second for The Successful...
’ theater workshop throughout the 1980s was pivotal in her development as a writer.
Some of her most notable works includes her 1990 play "Going to New England" produced at the INTAR theater. The New York Time's Stephen Holden gave the production mixed reviews, but also wrote that the play itself succeeded as "a study in physical and emotional claustrophobia" examining the traditions of Latin American machismo, Roman Catholic values, and erotic taboos.
Simo's "The Bad Play," a 1991 dance-theater collaboration with choreographer Stephanie Skura, also reviewed in The New York Times, was described as "a very broad and very funny parody" of the Hispanic soap opera with philandering doctors and cantankerous mothers-in-law.
Her 1989 short film, How to Kill Her, with Ela Troyano, premiered at the Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival and later went on to win first place in The Latino Film and Video Festival.
Simo's work has mainly been produced in New York City by venues including P.S. 122, Theater for the New City, INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, the New York Shakespeare Festival's Latino Festival, Duo Theatre, and the WOW Café.
Activist
Simo immigrated to Paris in time to participate in the student revolution of May 1968. Shortly afterwards, she participated in women's and lesbian/gay activist groups for the first time, including the Gouines Rouges (Red Dykes), the MLF (Mouvement de Libération des Femmes), and the FHAR (Front homosexuel d´action révolutionnaire).In 1976 in New York, she co-founded the lesbian theater Medusa's Revenge with actor and director Magaly Alabau. In her book, Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America, Sarah Schulman
Sarah Schulman
Sarah Miriam Schulman is an American novelist, historian and playwright. An early chronicler of the AIDS crisis, she wrote on AIDS and social issues, publishing in The Village Voice in the early 1980s, and writing the first piece on AIDS and the homeless, which appeared in The Nation...
writes,
"It is hard to find primary lesbian content on stage by an un-closeted writer before "Fefu and Her Friends" by Maria Irene FornesMaría Irene FornésMaría Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award for Promenade and her second for The Successful...
in 1977. Or maybe it was Corinne Jacker's "Harry Outside" at the Circle Repertory Company in 1975. But, although each was sealed with a passionate kiss, both of these plays contained their lesbian content in subplots. Lesbian content was primary on stage at Medusa's Revenge at 10 Bleecker Street, the first theater in the world willing to produce our work."
In 1992, Simo co-founded the direct action group The Lesbian Avengers
Lesbian Avengers
The Lesbian Avengers began in New York City in 1992 as "a direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility." Dozens of other chapters quickly emerged worldwide, a few expanding their mission to include questions of gender, race, and class.Though some groups continue...
with longtime lesbian activists Maxine Wolfe, Anne-Christine d'Adesky
Anne-Christine d'Adesky
Anne-Christine d'Adesky is a journalist, author, documentary filmmaker, activist and human rights advocate.-Biography:Adesky has been a foreign correspondent in Haiti working as a stringer for newspapers including the San Francisco Examiner and later, the Village Voice. Here, she began writing...
, Sarah Schulman
Sarah Schulman
Sarah Miriam Schulman is an American novelist, historian and playwright. An early chronicler of the AIDS crisis, she wrote on AIDS and social issues, publishing in The Village Voice in the early 1980s, and writing the first piece on AIDS and the homeless, which appeared in The Nation...
, Marie Honan, and Anne Maguire. The original group's sole stated focus: "Lesbian survival and visibility." The Lesbian Avengers
Lesbian Avengers
The Lesbian Avengers began in New York City in 1992 as "a direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility." Dozens of other chapters quickly emerged worldwide, a few expanding their mission to include questions of gender, race, and class.Though some groups continue...
inspired chapters worldwide. One of its long-term accomplishments is the annual Dyke March
Dyke March
Dyke March is a mostly lesbian-led and inclusive gathering and protest march much like the original gay pride parades and marches. They usually occur the Friday or Saturday before LGBT pride parades and larger metropolitan areas have related events both before and after the event to further...
in New York City.
Shortly afterwards, along with video producer Mary Patierno and theater director Linda Chapman, she created Dyke TV. The half-hour television program produced by lesbians, for lesbians was aired on Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
across the United States for more than a decade. It included a mix of news, political commentary, the arts, health, and sports.
Simo also co-founded The Gully online magazine (2000-2006) with writer and activist Kelly Cogswell, "to encourage activism and redefine and expand gay issues." It offered queer views of international news, U.S. politics, activism, race, class, LGBT issues, and included a Spanish edition.
Plays
- Exiles, INTAR, NYC, 1982
- Pickaxe, WOW Theater, NYC, 1985
- What Do You See?, Theater for the New City, NYC, 1986
- Alma, INTAR, NYC, 1988
- Penguins, East 4th St. Theater, NYC 1989
- Going to New England, INTAR, NYC, 1990
- The Bad Play (Dance-theater piece, Choreography: Stephanie Skura) PS 122, NYC 1991; Bessie Schonberg Theatre, NYC, 1991; Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, 1992.
- Ted and Edna (staged reading), New Dramatists, NYC 1993
- The Opium War (staged reading) New Dramatists, NYC, 1995; New York Theatre Workshop, NYC,1996. Music-theatre piece. Music composed and directed by Zeena Parkins.
- Without Qualities (staged reading), New Dramatists, NYC, 1996
Radio, audio, film
- The Table of Liquid Measures (radio play), National Public Radio, Radio Stage. Producer: Sarah Montague, 1995
- The Opium War: A 71-minute piece with music composed and directed by Zeena Parkins, Roulette/Einstein, (EIN-010/CD), 1999
- How to Kill Her, short film with Ela Troyano, 1989
Fiction, Anthologies
- Simo, Ana María. Las fábulas, Ediciones El Puente. (collection short stories) La hoja
- Cooper, Dennis (Ed.). (1992). Discontents: New Queer Writers. Amethyst Press.
- Scholder, Amy, Silverberg, Ira (Eds.). (1991) High Risk: An Anthology of Forbidden Writings. Plume.
- Hasson, Liliane (Ed, Transl.). (1985). Cuba: nouvelles et contes d’aujourd’hui. Éditions L’Harmattan, (France).
- Cohen, John Michael (Ed.). (1967). Writers in the New Cuba: An Anthology. Penguin.
Articles, Monographs
- Simo, Ana Maria. Lydia Cabrera: An Intimate Portrait. New York: Intar Latin American Gallery, 1988.
- Simo, Ana María and Garcia Ramos, Reinaldo. "Hablemos claro." Mariel: Revista de Literatura y Arte 2.5 (1984): 9-10.
Queer / Latino Theater
- Caulfield, Carlota and Davis, Darién J. (Eds.). (2007). A Companion to Us Latino Literatures. Tamesis Books.
- Gale, Maggie Barbara and Gardner, Vivien. (Eds.). (2004). Auto/biography and Identity: Women, Theatre, and Performance. Manchester University Press.
- Solomon, Alisa and Minwalla, Framji (Eds.). (2002). The Queerest Art: Essays on Lesbian and Gay Theater. New York University Press.
- Arrizón, Alica and Manzor, Lillian. (Eds.). (2000). Latinas on Stage: Practice and Theory. Third Woman Press.
- Sandoval-Sánchez, Alberto. (1999). José, Can You See?: Latinos on and Off Broadway. University of Wisconsin Press.
- Schulman, Sarah. (1998). Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America. Duke University Press.
- Peterson, Jane T. and Bennett, Suzanne. (1997). Women Playwrights of Diversity: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group.
- Noriega, Chon A. and López, Ana M. (1996). The Ethnic Eye: Latino Media Arts. University of Minnesota Press.
Cuba
- Howe, Linda S. (2004). Transgression and Conformity: Cuban Writers and Artists After the Revolution. University of Wisconsin Press.
- Bejel, Emilio. (2001). Gay Cuban Nation. University Of Chicago Press.
- Quiroga, Jose. (2000). Tropics of Desire: Interventions from Queer Latino America. New York University Press
- Yáñez, Mirta, Cluster, Dick and Schuster, Cindy. (1998). Cubana: Contemporary Fiction by Cuban Women. Beacon Press
- Davies, Catherine. (1997). A Place in the Sun?: Women Writers in Twentieth-Century Cuba. Zed Books.
- Balderston, Daniel and Guy, Donna J. (1997). Sex and Sexuality in Latin America: An Interdisciplinary Reader. New York University Press.
- Lumsden, Ian. (1996). Machos, Maricones, and Gays: Cuba and Homosexuality. Temple University Press.
- Behar, Ruth. (1995). Bridges to Cuba: Puentes a Cuba. University of Michigan Press.
- Reed, Roger. (1991). The Cultural Revolution in Cuba. Latin American Round Table.
- "Interview with Ana Maria Simo." Daniels, Ian. Torch (New York). 15 December 1984, 14 January 1985.