MARÍA LUISA ORTEGA HERNÁNDEZ is originally from Spain. Her life in Central
America has given her a greater understanding and a balanced perspective of the Spanish-speaking world,
which has added to her experience as a world citizen and as a young scholar. She is currently
Assistant Professor of Spanish at the Community College of Philadelphia and
Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her PhD in
2002. Based on the epic story narrated by the three hagiographies of
Catalina de San Juan (1605?-1688) and on her popular legend as la China
Poblana, her dissertation is a case study of the representation of female
sanctity in seventeenth-century New Spain. In the spring of 2006, she published her
first book, Housed Under Glass: A Story of Desire, Repression, Loss, and Healing / Tras
paredes de cristal: una historia de deseo, represión, pérdida y sanación.
Massachusetts: CBH Books. She especially invites women to read her words, magical allies in her complete recovery.
