Antonio Méndez Awarded Ultramar Prize for Literature at Book Fair 2009

The National Publishing House of the Ministry of Culture presented Antonio Méndez with the Ultramar Prize for Literature at the International Book Fair 2009 for his book: “The Dominican Woman: Immigrant in Search of Equality.”

The Dominican author explains that the book is the result of research into the existential reality of women and their alternatives as seen through the position of Palestinian writer, the late Edward Said (2003)

The Dominican author explains that the book is the result of research into the existential reality of women and their alternatives as seen through the position of Palestinian writer, the late Edward Said (2003) who said “ideas, culture and history cannot be seriously understood or studied without also studying their strengths, or more precisely their configurations of power.”

The book makes a theoretical and methodological contribution to the study of the female condition in the Diaspora and its relationship in the historic, economic, social, political and cultural context. It also shows a conceptual command and appropriate handling of the sources of study on the subject and an adequate level of language applied to the social sciences, explained a press release from the Ministry of Culture.

The 206-page book contains passages that introduce the Dominican woman as an emigrant and an immigrant in “Theories on Emigration,” “The Feminist Movement in Latin America,” “Defending the State – Women’s Contribution,” “The Reality of Women in Latin America” and “The Reality of Women in the Dominican Republic.”

Also, “Women in the Diaspora,” “The Reality of a Transnational Life,” “The Dominican Woman Here and There” and “Notes for a Common Future.”

Antonio Méndez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He did his secondary studies at the Manuel Rodríguez Objío School. In 1979, he immigrated to New York City where he finished his degree in Political Science, History and Sociology. He later did his post-grad in History and Social Services Administration and earned a Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University. In 2003 he published his first book, “Dominican Emigration to the United States: Myths and Realities.”

Antonio Méndez

Book Cover