Ana-Maurine Lara (born 1975) is a Dominican American lesbian poet, novelist and black feminist scholar. Lara was born in the Dominican Republic. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Harvard-Radcliffe University, and a PhD in African American Studies and Anthropology from Yale University.
Lara is a long-time LGBT human rights activist and supporter, having served on the Board of Directors for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.
Her creative work and scholarship focus on questions of black and indigenous women's freedom, love and ancestors. Since September 2015, she is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.
Lara is the daughter of Dominican Ambassador to the United Nations, Erasmo Lara Peña and the American poet Elizabeth Lara. For many years her father worked in the United Nations Secretariat. For this reason, she grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and also lived briefly in the Middle East. Ana-Maurine graduated from Mount Vernon High School, in Mount Vernon, New York. She then went on to study at Harvard University. After college, she spent several years in Boston, working in the field of HIV/AIDS research and participating in the local arts for social justice work of the group Mango con Pique. In 2000, she left Boston and headed West. She returned East for graduate studies at Yale University in 2009. While at Yale University, she worked under the guidance of scholar Jafari Sinclaire Allen.
Cantos. Letterpress book. September, 2015.
"The Sun Once Again Sings to the People." In Marion Rohrleitner and Sarah E. Ryan (eds.) Dialogues Across Diasporas. Lanham, MI: Lexington Books, 2013: pp. 139–150.
Cuando el sol volvió a cantar al pueblo. KRK Ediciones, Madrid, Spain, November 2011.
Watermarks & Tree Rings, Tanama Press, 2011.
"Halfie" Callaloo, Vol. 32, No. 2, P.II, Spring 2009: pp. 414–420.
"The Tide" in Cheryl Clarke & Steven G Fullwood, eds. To Be Left with the Body. Spring 2008.
"The Point that is My Pen." Sinister Wisdom 74, 2008: pp 156–160.
"La Ciguapa" Sable LitMag. Winter 2007: pp 36–47.
Erzulie's Skirt. RedBone Press, Washington DC, 2006.
Landlines, Eugene, OR, August 22 & 23, 2015.
The Hope Chorus, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR, May 2015.
The Majestic, Victory Grill, Austin, TX, July 2009
Written on the Body. Austin, TX: 2007.
Lara, Ana-Maurine & KT Shorb. The Experiment, Vortex Theater, Austin, TX, May 2012
Lara, Ana-Maurine, KT Shorb & Cheryl Coward. T.A.G., Frontera Fest, Hyde Park Theater, Austin, TX
Lara, Ana-Maurine, KT Shorb, Florinda Bryant & Cheryl Coward. HUSH – a play. ArtSpark Theatre Festival, Off Center, Austin, TX
Lara, Ana-Maurine, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Senalka McDonald & Samiya Bashir. Pënz – It's Pronounced Pants, Austin, TX, 2008.
Lara, A. & Wura-Natasha Ogunji. Serving Desire. A performance dinner, Center for African & African American Studies, UT Austin, TX: May 2006
2015: Recipient, Lilliam Jewel Grant for Performance, MRG Foundation
2015: Recipient, Joan Shipley Award, Oregon Arts Commission
2015: Artist Fellowship, Oregon Arts Commission
2012: Fiction Fellow, Callaloo Writers Workshop, Providence, RI
2012, 2008, 2007: Poetry Fellow, Cave Canem Foundation, New York, NY
2007: Associate Artist, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2007: Recipient, PEN/Northwest National Award in Fiction
2007: Third Prize, 33rd Annual National Latino/Chicano Writers Award
2007: Recipient, Barbara Deming Award for Women Writers in Poetry
2007: Finalist (Debut Lesbian Fiction), Lambda Literary Foundation
2006: Ensemble Member, The Austin Project, UT Austin, Austin, TX
2005: Recipient, Brooklyn Arts Council Grant
