Professor’s book wins major literary prize

A book by Liliana Colanzi has won the Ribera del Duero prize, honoring the best short stories in Latin America and Spain, for her book “Ustedes brillan en lo oscuro” (“You glow in the dark”). The prize comes with an award of 25,000 euros.

Colanzi, assistant professor of Romance studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, is the author of two previous short story collections —“Vacaciones permanentes”  and “Nuestro mundo muerto”— Colanzi won Mexico’s Aura Estrada literary award in 2015 and was named among the best Latin American writers under 40 by the Hay Festival Cartagena in 2017.

The author of two previous short story collections —“Vacaciones permanentes”  and “Nuestro mundo muerto”— Colanzi won Mexico’s Aura Estrada literary award in 2015 and was named among the best Latin American writers under 40 by the Hay Festival Cartagena in 2017.

"Ustedes brillan en lo oscuro” is a speculative book that tackles the issues of deep time and nuclear waste.

"Congratulations to Liliana for winning this prestigious prize," said Derk Pereboom, senior associate dean for arts and humanities in the College of Arts & Sciences."I’ve very much enjoyed and appreciated her stories, and it’s wonderful for her and for all of us at Cornell that she has been honored by this award."

Colanzi edited “La desobediencia, antología de ensayo feminista” in 2019 and was the co-editor in 2018 of the volume “Latin American Speculative Fiction” with Debra A. Castillo, Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow and Emerson Hinchliff Professor of Hispanic Studies. Colanzi is also co-editing the volume “Horror and the Supernatural in Latin America,” to be published in 2022 by Hispanic Issues. She is the publisher of the independent literary press Dum Dum editora in Bolivia.