Distinguished Research Professor Presents New Book in Chile

In August, Luis Correa-Díaz, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Romance Languages, was invited by the Instituto de Literatura y Ciencias del Lenguaje (ILCL) at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso to present his new edited volume:

La Bandera de Chile es extranjera en su propio país. Estudios sobre la poesía civil/insurrecta de Elvira Hernández. (Kassel/Barcelona: Edition Reichenberger, Colección Problemata Iberoamericana 24, 2025). Publisher’s site

The book brings together studies by leading scholars, including co-editors María Ángeles Pérez López (Universidad de Salamanca) and Biviana Hernández Ojeda (Universidad de Concepción), and offers the first full academic volume dedicated to the work of Elvira Hernández.

Hernández, one of the most influential voices in Latin American poetry, was awarded Chile’s 2024 National Literature Prize, becoming only the second female poet to receive the honor after Gabriela Mistral in 1951. Reflecting on her generation, she remarked: “We were forged in the era of the dictatorship, and in that period poetry became stronger. We were all a choral voice that I think should be examined because it is part of history.”

Far from being simply a tribute, the collection provides critical and engaged readings of Hernández’s poesía civil/insurrecta, examining its ethical, political, and aesthetic dimensions. As Correa-Díaz explains, the studies aim to illuminate Hernández’s unique contribution to contemporary poetry and the ways in which her work maps out urgent questions for Chile, Latin America, and beyond.