S06E03 | Truth Stranger than Fiction: The Life and Literature of Yda H. Addis

C19: America in the 19th Century

In the last two decades of the 19th century, newspaper readers across the U.S. were familiar with the work of California writer Yda H. Addis (c. 1857-1941). Her original, adapted, and translated short fiction appeared in newspapers from coast to coast, and her bilingual journalism appeared in U.S. and Mexican periodicals. But by 1900 her career was in tatters after a nasty divorce, a stint in jail, and an attempted murder charge. After that, she “disappeared.” Today, Addis is almost completely forgotten. In this episode, Rene H. Treviño (California State University, Long Beach) and Ashley C. Short introduce you to Addis and discuss her contributions to U.S. literary history, particularly in the areas of feminist fiction, Western and transnational writing, Mexican and Spanish folklore, and supernatural fiction. They explore how her tumultuous personal life intersected with her work and how the mystery of Addis’ alleged disappearance in 1900 was solved. Production support provided by Ryan Charlton (Auburn University). Transcript available at https://bit.ly/S06E03Transcript. Further reading at https://bit.ly/S06E03FurtherReading