‘“Du yu espik English?” Latino culture and identity in the United States’

Ilan Stavans is an acclaimed essayist, cultural critic, and translator, and is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. A native of Mexico, he received his Doctorate in Latin American Literature from Columbia University. Stavans’ books include The Hispanic Condition (1995), On Borrowed Words (2001), Spanglish (2003), Dictionary Days (2005), The Disappearance (2006), Love and Language (2007), Resurrecting Hebrew (2008), Mr. Spic Goes to Washington (2008), and Gabriel García Márquez: The Early Years (2010). His honours and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Jewish Book Award, the Southwest Children Book of the Year Award, an Emmy nomination, the Latino Book Award, and Chile’s Presidential Medal. He was the host of the syndicated PBS show ‘Conversations with Ilan Stavans’ (2001-2006). 

This seminar is co-sponsored by the Latin American Centre and the Sub-Faculty of Spanish, with María Blanco as discussant.