I Am a Red Dress: Incantations on a Grandmother, a Mother, and a Daughter

by Anna Camilleri

In I Am A Red Dress acclaimed writer and performer Anna Camilleri confronts the ghosts of her past as she seeks to find her rightful place in the world. Part memoir, part storytelling, Anna writes with passion and conviction about family and identity, and how the wounds of personal history can be healed through the imagination. Like a flashing red light, these eloquent stories and narratives speak to the heart of three generations of women — Anna, her mother, and her grandmother — as they deal with a cycle of family abuse; in them, the red dress appears as a symbol of defiance and empowerment. Throughout the book, Anna unravels memory that is inextricably tied to culture, class, and tradition, in a strong and beautiful voice that bravely asserts its right to be heard.

Combining the political with the intensely personal, Camilleri’s intimate writings are premised on a search for selfhood—strong, queer, female—within and outside of her bonds to other women in her family. She says, “My work is motivated by a deep desire to understand, and in the words of Dorothy Allison, to ‘remake the world.’”

Despite the perception that we live in a progressive society, Camilleri is not convinced that we live in a world that is necessarily better for women, indigenous people and people of color, queer people, or the poor and the working class. But she recognizes that the imagination is a powerful force that can lead to better lives, and a better world.

Her voice is the sound the status quo makes as it crashes to the ground.

Anna Camilleri is a Toronto-based writer and performance poet. She was co-editor of Brazen Femme, shortlisted for a Lambda Award, and co-founded Taste This, with whom she collaborated to publish Boys Like Her, winner of a ForeWord Magazine Literary Award.

Genres: Queer, Feminism, Poetry, Fiction, LGBT, Canada, Lesbian

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

Reviews

[Sarah]

I read this the other night in one sitting when I wanted something pleasant and meaningful but not too intense or over my head with nonlinear craziness. we're reading it next month for the "lesbian" reading group (i can't not put that in quotes) and i was kinda worried about it because i knew literally nothing about it. but! i really liked it. it was nice. it was a nice book.

i realize that "nice" probably isn't the reaction an author is looking for, particularly Anna Camilleri, whose memoir, after all, is about abuse and incest. But really that's not what the book is about. As she says, "my grandfather is a character in this story, but he is not the subject. He is at the edge of the photograph, at the seams of the story where the fabric divides, threatening to come undone. The real story is everything between the seams; the flow of fabric taut across round of belly; the moment of entry; a woman wearing a red dress walks into a room, into a dream, onto a stage, the sway of cloth against a suggestion of legs, long and strong; of women painting themselves red; of me painting myself red -- what this does, and might mean."

i really like unsentimental stories about families, particularly generations of families. children growing up and people cooking and FOOD. it's nice to find that in a queer book. it reminds me of felicia luna lemos and carla trujillo. i think my favorite part of this book is when she talks about harvesting and putting up food at her grandmother's house "and then summer was over." But also I really liked that this book sneaks in all kinds of political/social justice stuff towards the end of the book. haha! despite having cavalierly passed over Mattlida, Audre Lorde and scads of other awesome activist writers, WILL talk about social justice at the "lesbian" reading group. you CANNOT escape.

[Marish Buenavista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried a lot of times. It was so beautifully written. The writer was truly braved in writing her story.
It isn't your typical girl next door story, but a raw story of pain and recovering.
This book should be read by all women and men.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read and a touching meditation on family, womanhood and intergenerational trauma. Camilleri's stories of family are easy to relate to, even when your own situation isn't exactly the same. I found it provoked thoughts about the stories my family has carried down and how they are manifest in my experiences and personhood. I highly recommend this book which, for bonus points, is written by a queer femme.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

we read this in feminist poetry. at the time it was so intense and emotionally draining i feel like barely any peeps in our class could get through it. however, the way she sets up the book is amazingly creative. and it will be intense, but ultimately move you. and who doesn't want to read a book that will do that.

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this years ago, so i actually can't really give it a review - i do remember that i loved it. so if you're into queer lit, i say go for it.

[KD · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 1/2 was really good. Second 1/2 went downhill.