Last week I had the great opportunity to participate in the Carolina Conference on Romance Literatures held on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I traveled with my colleague here at BYU, Dale Pratt, and we had a great time. The panels that I attended were all quite interesting. I was especially pleased to hear a talk by Antonia Delgado-Poust on Dulce Chacón's La voz dormida (2006). Antonia did a great job exploring feminine antagonism in the work. I also really enjoyed David Gies's talk entitled "Such is Glorious War" in which he outlined how the eye-witness testimony of Robert Blakeny, a soldier from Ireland who served with British forces in the Peninsular War. I had heard many great things about Gies from some of my colleagues here at BYU, and he lived up to all of the hype. I was also happy to meet Samuel Amago at the conference. His Unearthing Franco's Legacy (2010) played a key role in my dissertation research.
The highlight of the conference was presenting for and meeting Rosa Montero. Dale, Juan Carlos Martín and I presented a panel about her 2010 novel Lágrimas en la lluvia. The panel was a huge success. She was gracious and smart in her response to our presentations.
Later that same day Montero gave a talk in which she discussed the importance of narrative in everyday life. Again I found her comments to be both intelligent and wise.
Here are my notes from the David Gies, David Fernández Díaz, Francisco Javier Fernández Castellano panel and from Rosa Montero's talk.