Dr Cherilyn Elston

Biography

Responsibilities Teaching I co-teach on two first-year modules: ‘SP1I1: Icons of Spain and Latin America’ and ‘SP1SLAC: Introduction to Spanish and Latin American Culture’. I convene and teach a second-year module ‘SP2LS: Literature and Society in the Modern Hispanic World’. I also teach Spanish language classes and contribute to the departmental module ‘ML1EU: The Making of Modern Europe, 1789 to the Present’. Areas of Interest I research Colombian history, literature and culture, with a particular focus on women’s writing, the feminist movement and the armed conflict. My PhD thesis analysed the history of women’s writing in Colombia and its relationship to feminist theory and activism, exploring poetry, novels and testimonio published by understudied Colombian women writers from the 1970s to the present. This formed the basis of my first monograph, Women’s Writing in Colombia – An Alternative History (Palgrave Macmillan 2016). Details of the book can be found here: https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9783319432601 I am also interested in the broader history of women’s writing and feminism in Latin America and Latin American feminist theory. I am currently working on a project exploring the cultural politics of memory, human rights and transitional justice in the context of recent peace processes in Colombia. My interests also include literary translation. My published translations include Southerly by Argentinean writer Jorge Consiglio (Charco Press 2017) and I am the editor of Palabras Errantes, an online journal that publishes Latin American and Spanish literature in translation. Qualifications PhD in Latin American Studies (Cambridge) MPhil in Latin American Studies (Cambridge) BA (Hons) in Modern History and English (Oxford)

Research Interest

I am interested in the broader history of women’s writing and feminism in Latin America and Latin American feminist theory. I am currently working on a project exploring the cultural politics of memory, human rights and transitional justice in the context of recent peace processes in Colombia. My interests also include literary translation. My published translations include Southerly by Argentinean writer Jorge Consiglio (Charco Press 2017) and I am the editor of Palabras Errantes, an online journal that publishes Latin American and Spanish literature in translation.