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Africans who fought alongside the British against the Zulu king

This book examines early modern texts that portray Mary Tudor’s girlhood and betrothal to a foreign prince, her brief marriage to the aging king of France, and her untimely widowhood, as well as retrospective accounts that depict her life in France, her relationships with her husband and his heir apparent, and her surreptitious romance and clandestine marriage to an English duke. Here, texts from England are put into conversation with a significant body of work that was written in French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin, culminating in an examination of a novel from North America that passed itself off as a genuine sixteenth-century memoir. Author JoAnn DellaNeva also examines a spectrum of extra-literary texts—such as dialogues, popular songs, letters, speeches, portraiture, tapestries, fashion, jewelry, and book illuminations—for the ways they too helped shape Mary’s image. In so doing, she analyzes the intersection of history and literature, demonstrating how porous the borders between these disciplines can be. Through a series of close readings that are informed by an examination of the cultural context behind these texts, Imagining Mary Tudor, Queen of France seeks to explain how Mary’s fictional biography proved to be so slippery, vacillating between portrayals of her as a virtuous, generally powerless woman and as a wily and wicked minx.

An imaginative exploration of queer and trans Latinx migrant survival, examining literature, film, and performance to challenge normative constructions of citizenship and belonging.

Queer and trans migrants in the US face persistent fictions depicting them as powerless. Through the lens of “impossible possibilities,” what Ruben Zecena defines as a space between the possible and impossible, the book presents a complex account of undocumented migrants that goes beyond good and bad dichotomies expressed by the state.

Migrating like a Queen highlights the joy, fabulosity, glamour, and complex desires of queer and trans Latinx migrants in the context of dehumanizing legal and representational structures. Analyzing a rich archive of twenty-first century media and literature, Ruben Zecena reveals how individuals imagine a reality that pushes against the constraints of narrative tropes created by the nation-state. The book foregrounds work by and about queer and trans Latinx migrants, including Alexandra DeRuiz, tatiana de la tierra, Sonia Guiñansaca, and Julián Delgado Lopera, illustrating the defining of a movement. Engaging multiple genres and forms, from testimonio to the bildungsroman, this book is a testament to the ever-shifting cultural strategies of survival that seize power from systems of subjection.

The story of an unconventional, self-taught American herpetologist and handler of venomous reptiles.

Grace Olive Wiley, America’s homegrown snake charmer, believed that all snakes, venomous or not, could be tamed if treated with kindness. She made pets of everything—and not just kingsnakes and boas. Using only her bare hands, she draped king cobras over her shoulders, cuddled with rattlesnakes, and fed minnows to cottonmouths. Alligators, crocodiles, and monitor lizards came when she called them by name.

In 1923, a Minneapolis newspaper introduced Wiley to their readers as “the girl who hunts snakes for fun.” This enigmatic woman, who quickly gained a national reputation as a snake expert, was in fact a forty-year-old divorcée with no training in herpetology. She would go on to run a wildly successful live reptile exhibit at the Minneapolis Public Library Museum, be the first person to breed Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes in captivity, become Brookfield Zoo’s (and the nation’s) first female zoo curator, wrangle king cobras for Hollywood films, and spend the remainder of her life as a tireless advocate for all things reptilian.

Queen of the Snake Charmers brings Wiley’s remarkable life back into focus while exploring the enduring fascination with snakes and the people who handle them. Author Margie Crisp explores the myths and folklore surrounding snakes and examines new research into snake behavior and the medical uses of venom. Blending biography, science, and natural history, the book tells the story of a forgotten pioneer while offering a lively and unexpected look at our enduring relationship with one of nature’s most feared creatures.

A literary collection honoring and memorializing Selena, the Queen of Tejano.

Thirty years after her death, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez remains a cherished figure of Mexican American popular culture, her music and celebrity resounding across the decades. This unique collection of creative and scholarly works traces Selena’s lasting impact as an entertainer and focal point of community and identity.

Assembling essays, memoir, short stories, and poems, The Selena Reader memorializes a beloved singer while also exploring the politics and personal meaning of what we remember. Selena’s devoted admirers tell us what they took from her lyrics and stage presence, the official and fan tributes, and the media and products she inspired. In one essay, Tejana coming-of-age is sharply refracted through the prism of Selena’s art and social status. Another piece considers how Selena’s body and distinctive clothing have shaped the author’s sense of queer self. Honey Avila (aka Honey Andrews), the renowned Selena impersonator, shares vivid recollections of her hero. A father and daughter describe how their conversations about Selena changed their relationship and contributed to Chicana feminist consciousness in their lives. All told, this anthology amplifies the gratitude of generations who have loved, and learned from, Selena.