Jeanneth Vázquez

Professor of Spanish

• Phone: 309-794-7670
• Email: JeannethVazquez@augustana.edu
• Office: Denkmann 124

I obtained a Ph.D on Hispanic American Literature at The Ohio State University.  At Augustana, I teach courses on Latin American Literature, Culture and Civilization of Hispanic America, and Latin American Women Writers. 

I am the founder of the Hispanic Film Festival and the sponsor of the "Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award," which I created in memory of my parents.  This award if bestowed every year, along with other awards given by the Women and Gender Studies Program, to the best submission on a topic related to women.

I was born in Ecuador.  Even before I could read and write, I knew I wanted to be involved in the world of Letters. My parents were reading poetry to me since my early childhood and we in the family discussed daily affairs, politics, economics, Literature at the table during meals.  So, writing was my first most urgent interest in life. 

My profession, I decided, would be as a journalist.  I obtained a degree in Journalism at the Universidad Central del Ecuador.  I worked for several newspapers and magazines in Ecuador.   My first job was as an Assistant Editor and as an Art and Theater Critic.  Later on, I worked as a Reporter on issues of national interest; and then, as a Reporter of Economic Affairs.   I was also a member of the Literary Group "Tientos y Diferencias". I have published short-stories in literary magazines in Ecuador, and a poetry book: Bajé a Vivir.

In my poetry, I speak about my experiences in the world and of my relationship with the universe and men: men conceived in universal terms, as human beings and also as males.  I speak about hopelessness and fear, about my frustration and anguish, about friendship, of my happy moments, about procreation and death.  That is to say, about all those things that separate us from each other, and of those that bring us together - about those things that identify us all as human, the beings who live in this populated corner of our galaxy.

Specializations: Hispanic American literature, Latin America, Spanish literature, Gender and women studies, Latin American women writers, Women's studies, Gender studies