Liliana Colanzi

Liliana Colanzi is an Assistant Professor of Latin American Literature at Cornell University, appointed in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. She is also a celebrated Bolivian writer and the founder of the independent press Dum Dum Editora.

Her academic training and professional identity are anchored in literary studies, with a particular emphasis on modern and contemporary Latin American fiction. Colanzi’s scholarship interrogates popular genres—science fiction, horror, and the fantastic—while her creative practice encompasses short fiction and editorial work.

Research Interests

• Modern and contemporary Latin American literature
• Popular genres: science fiction, horror, the fantastic
• Creative writing pedagogy
• Posthuman and corporeal studies
• Independent publishing and literary activism

Across her recent publications, Colanzi explores the intersection of technology, animality, and market forces on the human body, the sinister semiotics of food in horror narratives, and the reimagining of Bolivian and regional histories through speculative lenses. Her work oscillates between rigorous scholarly analysis and creative experimentation, often blurring the boundaries between criticism and fiction.

Awards & Honors

• Aura Estrada Literary Award, Mexico (2015)
• Bogota39 – Hay Festival Cartagena list of best Latin American writers under 40 (2017)
• Shortlist, Ribera del Duero Prize for best unpublished short-story collection (2022)

Editorial Leadership & Outreach

Beyond academia, Colanzi directs Dum Dum Editora, an independent Bolivian press fostering new literary voices. She has co-edited major scholarly volumes such as Latin American Speculative Fiction (2018) and Horror and the Supernatural in Latin America (2022), and curated the feminist essay anthology La desobediencia (2019).