Ana María Caro de Mallén is regarded in Spain as one of the first professional women writers of the country, with her work published in the early 1600s. Though much of her work has disappeared, we still have in our possession many of her poems and her two secular plays, both of them centering on a woman protagonist.
Many have misused the above photo as Ana Caro, but it is not her. It is “Lady with a Fan” by Diego Velázquez. Some scholar had the photo placed on the cover of a revised edition of Ana’s play and the error continued to carry on from there.
The more I learned about Ana and the Spanish Golden Age, the more I realized my memoir instructors were right: You can’t make this sh*t up. I decided Ana deserved more attention, so I have worked to craft her life in a novel.
Yes, this is a newsletter about craft and the writing process. It’s also a space where I share about the invisible narratives of history.
Stick around. Class is in session.
About Anita Gill
Anita Gill is a writer, editor, and recent Fulbright fellow in Spain. Her essays, memoir, and satire have appeared in The Iowa Review, The Rumpus, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Prairie Schooner, The Offing, The Baltimore Sun, and elsewhere. Her writing has been listed as Notable in Best American Essays and has won the Iowa Review Award in Nonfiction. Anita is a member of Women Who Submit, an organization that educates and encourages marginalized genders to get published. She currently serves as the Nonfiction Editor for Hypertext Magazine and teaches at Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop. Follow her on Twitter at @anitamgill or visit her website at anitagill.ink.
