This summer, I’ll be working on two writing projects. My field is Latin American and Latinx literature, and I’m preparing an article for submission to the Interdisciplinary Humanities Journal on the intersection between the Gothic novel and Gabriel García Márquez’s short story “La triste e increíble historia de la cándida Eréndira y su abuela desalmada.” Critics and readers rarely consider that the protagonist, the innocent Eréndira, actually becomes a monster within the narrative, and my article explores that transformation.
I’ll also be collaborating with Puerto Rican graphic artist Walder Brands to illustrate my current fiction novella El viaje del cuervo. The story follows a blackbird living in Seattle who dreams of crossing the ocean to Puerto Rico, exploring themes of migration and the search for “home.”
In March, I presented at the Southwest Council of Latin American Studies conference in Mexico City. My talk, “Literatura en asalto: resistencia, defensa, queja y negociación en la literatura latina de los Estados,” examined U.S. Hispanic literature from colonial times to the present, focusing on how it has been shaped through resistance and ongoing contact with a dominant Anglo culture. This presentation, along with my current research, will form part of the introduction to a forthcoming book on Latinx literature in the United States.
I will be teaching SPAN 3301, a required course for Spanish majors and minors that guides students from conversational Spanish into academic Spanish. It’s a course I value deeply because it allows me to teach students how to craft a short story using traditional methods from Latin American literature.
This summer, I’ll be incorporating best practices for using AI in writing—both for essays and short stories, as well as for editing and Spanish grammar support. Students often say their favorite part of the class is writing a short story for the first time.
One of the most engaging elements of the assignment is encouraging them to think like a Latin American writer and craft an ending that isn’t necessarily happy, but rather impactful and unforgettable.
