UA News

Rosi Andrade and Elena Díaz Björkquist, co-founders of Sowing the Seeds, are in the process of collecting the writings of women for a forthcoming anthology.

Rosi Andrade and Elena Díaz Björkquist constantly consider the relevance and impact of writing and storytelling.

Both forms provide opportunity for education, connection, cultural preservation and, when inclusive of people of divergent backgrounds and experiences, can inform humanitarian and humane values.

That gets to the core of what Andrade and Díaz Björkquist, who are both researchers with The University of Arizona Southwest Institute for Research on Women, practice in their work.

Andrade is an associate research professor with the UA institute, also known as SIROW, and Díaz Björkquist is a member of SIROW Scholars, a group of independent researchers affiliated with the institute.

The two connected nearly 10 years ago to launch the initiative "Sowing the Seeds: Promoting the Humanities in our Communities." It began as a series of lectures and discussions first funded by the Arizona Humanities Council and the Stocker Foundation.

The initiative, which is open to new members and is also planning a poetry writing workshop for early April, has since grown into more sustained programming around writing and storytelling.

The writing collaborative is comprised of women between the ages of 18 and 90, most of whom are teachers and librarians. Currently, about 25 women are involved in the initiative by writing and sharing their stories.

The initiative has resulted in Andrade and Díaz Björkquist co-editing an anthology of writings by the women in the group, which was published in 2002. The group is currently working on its second manuscript with plans to have it ready for publication this year.

The group meets every second Saturday morning of the month at Mujer Sana/Healthy Women, a UA project working to reduce infectious disease rates among Hispanic women and youth that is run out of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women, or SIROW, location at 3912 S. Sixth Ave.

"It would benefit us as a society if we could understand that experience living and growing up in the United States and in learning what they've dealt with and what they've kept secret," Andrade said, noting that some of the women were born in the United States while others were not. 

Sowing the Seeds is fashioned on the "comadre" relationship, which emphasizes lifelong support and friendship among women.

The women often share stories about their childhood experiences growing up in cities and mining towns, about families, love and tragedy. Along the way, the women participate in workshops and conduct activities together. They rotate leading sessions and discussions, critique each other's writings and work to create solid bonds.

The co-founders did not anticipate such a comprehensive program in the beginning, and certaintly not that published works to come out of it. But the need drove the result, they said.

"Initially, it was very much about supporting the humanities, but we found that there was a greater need to get more in depth, so we used the humanities as a way to promote the leadership of the women," Andrade said.

"We don't always have to go through things personally to be able to learn from them," she added. "In the humanities, we are able to experience any number of lives and learn from the writings."

Andrade and Díaz Bjorkquist said they and the women who contribute their stories link the past and future generations with stories of varied and divergent experiences.

"I love teaching," Díaz Bjorkquist said, adding that she has taught in both the K-12 and higher education systems in Arizona. "I love to share with someone and then see the reward of what happens when people really get involved with their learning."

The last two lines in one of Andrade's favorite poems is telling.

The poem by late American poet Muriel Rukeyser reads: "What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?/ The world would split open."

Andrade said that is not necessarily a bad thing.

"If we heard these other voices," she said, "it would benefit society."