Lecture by Mayra Santos-Febres, University of Puerto Rico

In this engaging autobiographical presentation, Mayra Santos-Febres discusses gender, religion, and science as spaces of contestation to patriarchy in Latin America and the Caribbean. She frames her life story as an Afro-Puerto Rican writer, educator, and mother in relation to Afro-diasporic religion and to Puerto Rican modernity, particularly focusing on the feminist legacy of Novohispana writer Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, questioning Western philosophical traditions that marginalize women and people of color and disregard critical thinking by minoritarian subjects.

Mayra Santos-Febres is Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, and an acclaimed novelist, poet, essayist, and cultural activist who has published over 13 books. She received her PhD in Spanish from Cornell University in 1991. Santos-Febres is the founder of the Salón Literario Libroamérica and of the Festival de la Palabra, an international writers festival held annually in Puerto Rico since 2010. Her works have been translated into numerous languages. Some of her best known novels include Sirena Selena (2000), Our Lady of the Night (2009), and the recently released La amante de Gardel (2015). Her talk will be in English.

Reception to follow lecture in Palmer Commons, Great Lakes Room