Cofer, Judith Ortiz, 1952-2016

Judith Ortiz Cofer (nee Morot Ortiz) was born February 24, 1952, in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, to parents Fanny Morot and J.M. Ortiz. Judith's father worked for the United States Navy in 1956 her family moved to Paterson, New Jersey, after her father was stationed at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. For the next decade, her family migrated back and forth between the family home in Paterson and her maternal grandmother's house in Hormigueros, where they stayed while her father was away at sea. At the age of fifteen in 1967, Judith moved with her family to Augusta, Georgia, where she graduated from Butler High School and subsequently attended Augusta College. In 1971, Judith Ortiz married John Cofer, whom she met while attending Augusta College. They both graduated in 1974, Judith obtaining her Bachelor's degree in English. By 1977, Cofer had completed her Master's degree in English at Florida Atlantic University and spent the summer studying at Oxford University with a scholarship from the English Speaking Union. Between 1978 and 1980, Cofer worked as an adjunct instructor of English Literature and Spanish Language at both Broward County Community College and Palm Beach Community College. From 1980 to 1984, she was an English lecturer at the University of Miami, Coral Gables. Cofer then secured a position at the University of Georgia as an English instructor (1984-1987). At that time, she left UGA and began work at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education (1987-1989), Macon College as an English instructor (1989-1990), and then Mercer University as a special programs coordinator (1990-1992). In 1992, she returned to the University of Georgia as a tenure track associate professor of creative writing. She was then appointed a Regent's Professor and a Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing. Though Judith Ortiz Cofer worked as a free-lance journalist and had many short stories and poems published in various weekly and daily publications, her literary career began around the age of twenty-eight with the publication of her first book of poetry entitled Latin Women Pray. She published a wide variety of works including short stories, novels for children and young adults, poetry collections, autobiographical reflections, and essays. Notably, The Line of the Sun (1989) and The Latin Deli (1993) both received nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2010, previous hitJudith Ortiz Cofer next hit was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame. Cofer taught at the University of Georgia, until her retirement in 2013, at which time she moved to her family farm in Louisville, Georgia. Judith Ortiz Cofer passed away on December 30, 2016.