Dr Cherilyn Elston

I research Colombian history, literature and culture, with a particular focus on women’s writing, gender and the armed conflict, and, more recently, exile and the Colombian diaspora. My PhD thesis analysed the history of women’s writing in Colombia and its relationship to feminist theory and activism, studying 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), which was awarded the 2018 Montserrat Ordóñez prize by the Colombia section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). 

My current project focuses on the memory activism of Colombian refugees, migrants and exiles during the most recent peace process, exploring how they have challenged the invisibility of exile within Colombia’s conflict narratives. I am also interested in the literary and cultural production of Colombian migrants and exiles and have published on arts-based memory and transitional justice initiatives in Colombia. I was a member of the UK and Ireland Hub supporting the work of the Colombian Truth Commission in the UK and have received funding from the AHRC and Research England to co-design participatory research projects with Colombian refugee and migrant groups in London.

My interests also include literary translation. My published translations include Southerly — Charco Press by Argentinean writer Jorge Consiglio (Charco Press 2017), ‘Mangrove Nights’ by Colombian poet Mary Grueso Romero (Wasafiri, 35:4 2020) and ‘Lily of the Valley’ by Colombian writer Daniel Ferreira (Wasafiri, 35:4 2020).