Sarah Pollack

Sarah Pollack is an Associate Professor in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY), with an appointment in the PhD program in Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures at The Graduate Center. She currently serves as Chair of her department and was the lead creator of the Program in Latin American, Caribbean and Latina/o Studies (LACLS) at CSI.

• Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
• M.A., University of Arizona at Tucson
• B.A., Earlham College

Her research focuses on the politics of literary translation, intersections between philosophy and contemporary Latin American poetry, and Latin American Orientalisms. Her work has appeared in leading journals such as PMLA and Comparative Literature, and she is also an accomplished literary translator from Spanish into English.

Her recent publications span themes of transnational literary reception, particularly of authors like Roberto Bolaño and Daniel Sada in the U.S., the philosophical dimensions of poetic subjectivity, and cultural translation in works by Juan Villoro and Ida Vitale. Her scholarship reveals a strong interdisciplinary approach, blending literary criticism, translation studies, and cultural theory.

• Andrew W. Mellon Transformative Learning in the Humanities Faculty Fellow
• Principal Investigator, Andrew W. Mellon Black, Race and Ethnic Studies (BRES) grant

She has advised academic initiatives and secured significant funding, demonstrating leadership in advancing race, ethnicity, and humanities education. Her translations include award-recognized poetry and prose by major Latin American authors, contributing to the visibility of Spanish-language literature in the Anglophone world.

She leads the Department of World Languages and Literatures and continues to shape curricular and research directions in Latin American and Latino/a studies at CSI.