More than 140 researchers meet in Santiago de Compostela for the 13th International Conference of Chicanx Literature and Latino Studies
HispaUSA Association and the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, in collaboration with the Instituto Franklin-UAH, the Department of English and German Philology of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, the research group Discurso e Identidade, and Iberia, organized the 13th International Conference of Chicanx Literature and Latino Studies at the Faculty of Philology of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela between the 12th and the 14th of June, 2024.
More than 120 talks, presentations and lectures were held during these three days, covering the theme of this edition, “Pilgrims in the Way Towards New Multidisciplinary Encounters,” from different perspectives.
The conference began with an opening ceremony that included the welcoming of Laurence Malingret (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), Patricia Fra (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), and José Antonio Gurpegui (HispaUSA/Instituto Franklin-UAH). After the welcoming speech, keynote speaker Manuel M. Martin Rodríguez (University of California, Merced) was awarded the 6th Don Luis Leal Award, and later participated with the lecture “The Paths of Chicano Literature: Pilgrims, Travelers, and Readers,” chaired by Isabel Durán (Universidad Complutense de Madrid). That evening there was also a round table discussion entitled “Queer Corazón on the Way to Santiago” for the presentation of the 18th issue of the Instituto Franklin-UAH’s journal Camino Real. Estudios de las Hispanidades Norteamericanas, with the participation of Alicia Gaspar de Alba, special editor of this issue, and several other contributors. To conclude the first day of the conference, a guided tour was organized through the center of the city of Santiago de Compostela for the members of the conference, focusing on this edition’s theme and giving them the opportunity to become true peregrines of Santiago.
On the second day of the conference, keynote speaker Ron Arias, journalist and reference author in the Chicano literature field, gave his lecture “A Writer’s Road,” which reviewed his personal experience as an author. The lecture was introduced and chaired by scholar and author Francisco Lomeli (University of California, Santa Barbara). The plenary session was complemented with the presentation of the book Gardens of Plenty by Ron Arias, and other presentations of books such as Crimes of the Tongue: Essays and Stories by Alicia Gaspar de Alba, and Queering the Border: Personal Essays and Testimony of a Shifter by Emma Pérez. Finally, there was a tribute and performance to one of the greatest exponents of Chicano literature, Gloria Anzaldúa, organized by Martín Junquera and Norma E. Cantú and titled “The Route towards Decolonization: The Heritage of Gloria Anzaldúa”.
On the third and last day, keynote speaker Esther Álvarez López (Universidad de Oviedo) gave the lecture “Pilgrimages: World-Traveling and Solidarity in Latinx Migration Narratives,” chaired by Patricia Fra (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela). Francisco Lomeli also presented books such as A Critical Collection on Alejandro Morales: Forging an Alternative Chicano Fiction, and Carlos Morton read sections of his last works Trapped in Amber and Frontera sin fin.
More information about this conference in the following link.
