Ylce Irizarry

Ylce Irizarry is an Associate Professor and Norman and Dorothy Eliason Scholar at the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on Latinx cultural production, including Chicanx/Latinx literature, Caribbean historical fiction, and visual rhetorics. She examines how authors use genre, language, and visual elements to represent marginalized experiences.

Education:

• Ph.D. in English, Pennsylvania State University (2002)
• M.A. in English, Purdue University (1995)
• B.A. in English with Spanish Minor, Le Moyne College (1993)

Her groundbreaking book Chicana/o and Latina/o Fiction: The New Memory of Latinidad (2016) won major awards from NACCS and the MLA. Her current project explores Latinx speculative narratives as decolonial cartographies of erased histories. Recent work appears in Chiricú Journal, CENTRO, and Latinx Environmentalisms.

Research Themes: Latinx environmentalisms, critical race studies, queer theory, decolonial aesthetics, and intersectional social justice.

Awards:

• NACCS Best Book Award (2018)
• MLA Book Award (2017)
• Jerome Krivanek Teaching Award (2017)
• SOL Community Engagement Award (2019)

Her teaching emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to Latinx studies, including courses on 'Misbehaving Bodies' in literature/film and introduction to Latina/o/x studies. She actively engages in community outreach and mentoring initiatives.