The Latin American/Caribbean Speaker Series at the
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point presents
Professor Nela Rio is an internationally recognized Argentine-Canadian
poet, artist, and arts organizer living in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where
she taught Latin American literature at St. Thomas University for many
years, retiring in 2003. Her research specializes in 16th- and 17th-century
Spanish American colonial literature and in Hispanic-Canadian literature.
She has been widely published in literary journals and anthologies in
Canada, Spain, the United States, Honduras, Brazil, and Argentina.
Professor Rio is the President of the Registro Creativo of the Canadian
Association of Hispanists; the founder and organizer of the Annual
Multicultural Multilingual Poetry Recital (since 2000); and the organizer
and coordinator of Outspoken Art/Arte Claro, which works for the
elimination of all forms of violence against women. Professor Rio is the
first member of the League of Canadian Poets to have earned full
membership based solely on a body of poems written in Spanish. She was
recently nominated for the league’s 2011 Pat Lowther Prize for the best
book of poems written by a female Canadian poet – the first time a
bilingual poetry collection was so nominated and a remarkable
accomplishment for a naturalized Canadian citizen.
This event was made possible thanks to support provided by
College of Letters and Science
Chancellor’s Office
Office of Diversity and College Access
College of Natural Resources
College of Fine Arts and Communication
Department of Foreign Languages
Department of Political Science
Division of Communication
Department of Geography and Geology
Department of Sociology and Social Work
Department of Philosophy
Office of International Programs
School of Business/Economics
Department of English
Department of History
Program in International Studies
Program in Peace Studies
Program in Women’s and Gender Studies
History Club
Nela Rio
Renowned Poet, Artist, and Arts Organizer
Fredericton, Canada
speaking on
SILENCED VOICES AND REPRESENTATIONS
OF VIOLENCE: LATIN AMERICAN FEMALE
WRITERS AND MEMORY CONSTRUCTION
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
7:30 p.m.
Room 221, Noel Fine Arts Center
Schedule of Events
Welcome by Dr. Anju Reejhsinghani, Department of History and Chair, Latin
American/Caribbean Speaker Series
Silenced Voices and Representations of Violence:
Latin American Female Writers
and Memory Construction
Introduction by Dean Christopher Cirmo, College of Letters and Science
Introduction by Dr. Elia Armacanqui-Tipacti, Foreign Languages
Public Talk by Professor Nela Rio
Q&A Session Moderated by Dr. Armacanqui-Tipacti
A presentation by
Professor Nela Rio
Description of the Series
The Latin American/Caribbean Speaker Series (LACSS) at UWSP was founded in
2011 to promote awareness of political, social, economic, environmental, and
cultural issues in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean
region. The series brings scholars, artists, activists, and other specialists to our
campus each year to share their knowledge with students, faculty, staff, and the
wider community. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the series, the LACSS
committee includes Assistant Professor Anju Reejhsinghani (History), Assistant
Professor Jennifer Collins (Political Science), and Associate Professor Elia
Armacanqui-Tipacti (Foreign Languages).
Censorship, existing at many societal levels, is typically
considered to be an instrument of the powerful. Yet poets and
writers have demonstrated that some forms of censorship have
given them productive outlets to bring life to silent voices. This
has particularly been the case for Latin American women
writers, whose work often delves into interior lives. Indeed, Sor
Juana Inés de la Cruz, one of the region’s first female writers,
suggested that the artifice of “silence” could be used to “say
what cannot be said.”
For more information about the series, including a list of upcoming guest
speakers, contact Dr. Reejhsinghani at areejhsi@uwsp.edu or (715) 346-4122.
Acclaimed Argentine-Canadian poet, artist, arts organizer, and
women’s rights advocate Nela Rio is committed to using writing
as a tool for remembrance. She suggests that memory
construction is both an individual and collective task, and that
every single one of us makes history, even those whose lives
society deems as insignificant. According to Rio, memory
construction may be liberating or oppressive; it may reveal or
obscure, preserve or destroy; and it will always be partial and
have ambiguous edges.
En el Corazon el Silencio Está Temblando, Vuelo Tenue [In the Heart Silence is
Trembling, Faint Flight] by Nela Rio
In this presentation, Rio will discuss and read from her work in
which she remembers the lives of women she has known in
Argentina and in her work with refugees and immigrants in
Canada. Some of these women lived under oppressive
dictatorial regimes; others suffered from intra-family violence.
Through her writing, Rio’s objective is not to make a political
statement, but rather to portray the spiritual context and
foundation that undergird the struggle for human rights.