The 50th annual conference of the Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS) took place in Birkbeck, London on 2–4 April 2014. Here at University of Wales Press we are very excited about our growing Iberian and Latin American Studies series, and so I was delighted to be in attendance and manning the stall at this event.
With an international array of scholars – from Spain, Catalonia, Portugal, Argentina, Peru, Cuba and Mexico, to name just a few – it truly was an insightful experience, with lots of languages and dialects being spoken and a wonderful mix of different cultures and perspectives contributing to the creation of an inspiring conference.
Ever-keen to discover fresh angles and research in this field, I found the abstracts for the panel session on documenting Mexico’s history by drawing upon oft-neglected materials – like cartes de visite – to be particularly interesting, as well as talks on cinema and the role of gender in Latin-American extractive industries.
The highlight of the proceedings, though, was of course the lovely experience of having an author drop by to say hello – or should that be ¡hola! It is always a pleasure to meet our authors, editors and readers at these events, so if you see our blue tablecloth, do come and have a chat!
Being the unfortunate owner of two left feet, I refrained from the salsa on offer in the evening; but there was plenty of fiesta fun to be had from following the Twitter feed for the event. Filed under #SLAS14, this includes some of the striking photographs and film-stills discussed during the conference. I hope that there will be 50 more years of Iberian and Latin-American Studies to follow!
Catherine Jenkins, Editorial and Commissioning Assistant