CLCS Director Visits Southern Methodist University

Courtesy of SMU

Dr. Erika Almenara, Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of the Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies Program, visited SMU last week to deliver a talk on her book The Language of the In-Between: Travestis, Post-hegemony and Writing in Contemporary Chile and Peru (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2022). Almenara also offered a Creative Writing Workshop focusing on the healing power of creative writing and visited several classes to share her research and creative work. 

Almenara's book engages with the work of Claudia Salazar, Claudia Rodríguez, Sofía Devenir, Giuseppe Campuzano, José Donoso, Héctor Acuña, and Pedro Lemebel through the lens of "in-between" language to contend that these Peruvian and Chilean artists, writers, performers, intellectuals, and activists dispute state projects of modernization and their reproduction during the Chilean military dictatorship and the governments of Alberto Fujimori. Her book has been described by Chilean scholar Julio Uribe as "an honest, reflective, fresh, valuable, original, and well-written piece."

Almenara's current research project, "Healing with the Arts," allowed her to share her knowledge and experience with the SMU community.  In 2023, she worked with incarcerated women in Peru and invited them to utilize their voice through written expression to help them make vital steps towards healing from PTSD, anxiety, depression and so on.  This year, Almenara has been invited by the Institut Catalá de Salut - Barcelona, Spain to share this impactful strategy with individuals in Spain who interact with those who struggle. She also plans to offer another workshop in Lima, Peru this year for incarcerated men.