Unpacking Quiroga’s Files

A Colloquium on the Intellectual Legacy and Papers of José Quiroga

Friday, November 7, 2025

In honor of José Quiroga’s intellectual legacy and the recent donation of his papers, the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries will host a colloquium, “Unpacking Quiroga’s Files,” on Friday, November 7, 2025. This event brings together Quiroga’s colleagues and students from various universities to discuss his profound impact on Cuban studies and beyond. The discussions will explore themes ranging from Caribbeanness and Afro-Cuban diasporic identities to queer kinship and the role of literature as a space for discourse. This collaborative effort, organized by multiple departments and institutes at the University of Miami, celebrates Quiroga’s work while highlighting the new opportunities for research his donated papers will provide to scholars for years to come.

Organized by the Cuban Heritage Collection, the Marta S. Weeks Chair in Latin American Studies, the Emilio Bacardí Moreau Chair for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, and the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas at the University of Miami.

Co-sponsored by the Wilbur L. and Jean L. Morrison Endowment for Cuban Studies at the University of Miami, the Michelle Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, the Department of History, the Center for the Humanities, the Center for Global Black Studies, and the Department of English at the University of Miami.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required to attend.

Register to attend

Please note that the conference will be bilingual, with presentations and discussions held in English and Spanish.

Colloquium Schedule

9 a.m.

Breakfast
9:30 a.m.

Welcome Remarks

  • Amanda Moreno-Schroeder, Esperanza Bravo de Varona Chair and Director, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries
  • Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel, Marta S. Weeks Chair in Latin American Studies, Michelle Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Miami
9:40 a.m.

Writing Desire(s)/Deseos de escritura

  • Daniel E. Balderston, University of Pittsburgh – “The making of Sexualidades en disputa”
  • Christina Leon, Duke University – “Literature as that Space: Contradiction, Melancholia, and Discourse”
  • Licia Fiol-Matta, New York University – “Lines of Flight”/”Líneas de fuga”
  • Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel, Marta S. Weeks Chair in Latin American Studies, Michelle Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Miami (Moderator)
11:00 a.m.

Break
11:10 a.m.

Reinventing Other Caribeñidades/Reinventando otras caribeñidades

  • Norge Espinosa Mendoza, Teatro El Público – “José Quiroga: cartografía de una isla diferida”
  • Jossianna Arroyo-Martínez, University of Texas, Austin – “José Quiroga: Memory and Caribeñidad”
  • Marimer Carrión, Emory University – “In the Woods, with Rafi Trelles, Agustín Stahl, and José Quiroga”
  • Aisha Cort Hamilton, Bucknell University – “Recuerdos olvidables: On Afro-Cuban Diasporic Identities and the Ruins of Memory”
  • Michael J. Bustamante, Emilio Bacardí Moreau Chair in Cuban and Cuban-American Studies and Director of Academic Programs, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami (Moderator)
12:50 p.m.

Lunch Break
2:05 p.m.

Queer Kinship and Diasporic Ruins/Afinidades queer y ruinas diaspóricas

  • Anastasia Valecce, Spelman College – “The Quiroga Effect: Queer Kinship and the Emotional Labor of the Archive”
  • Vicky Unruh, University of Kansas – “José Quiroga’s Ways of Being in The Cambridge History of Cuban Literature”
  • Natalie Catasús, Central Connecticut State University – “Archival Reunions: A Mentee’s First Encounters with the José Quiroga Papers”
  • Omar Granados, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – “Aún buscando a Caín /Still Searching for Caín”
  • Lillian Manzor, Director of University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and Founding Director of the Cuban Theater Digital Archive (Moderator)