ABSTRACT
This chapter is supposed to be about academic writing. However, I cannot help but think that who we are is extremely relevant to how we write and what we write about and that every time we write something, we put our own selves on the line. Thus, what follows is my own story, which is not only about how I have written and published a number of chapters and articles, but also about what took place behind the
scenes-what led me to academic publishing, what made certain topics more important than others, and what made me react in particular ways to interactions with editors and publishers. It is also a story of ways in which I gained membership in a scholarly community and constructed an authoritative voice, with a trace of an accent (which I prefer to see as bilingualism and double vision). In telling this story, I will try to demonstrate that an “immigrant woman” is not a singular subject position: Whereas for some aspiring scholars it can be a source of disempowerment, for others, myself included, being a refugee, an immigrant, and a female is a privilege and an ultimate source of strength, critical consciousness, and multiple perspectives.
