Ilana Luna
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Mail code: 2151Campus: West
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Ilana Luna is an associate professor of Latin American Studies and Spanish in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies (SHArCS) at Arizona State University’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. She received her doctorate in Hispanic languages and literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2011, where she was also the first doctoral student to graduate with an emphasis in translation studies. Her master's degree in Spanish and Portuguese was also granted, with honors, from UCSB (2006), and her bachelor's degree in Spanish literature was awarded Magna Cum Laude from Bryn Mawr College in 2001.
Her research revolves around questions of gender and sexual identity, the gendered performance of self and the representation of women, class struggle, and art’s potential for the praxis of social justice, primarily focusing on literature and film. She is the author of the book Adapting Gender: Mexican Feminisms from Literature to Film (SUNY, 2018) and was the Co-Director of Programming for Femme Revolution Film Fest in Mexico City from 2017-2021. She has served on the board of the Phoenix-based bilingual poetry press Cardboard House Press since 2016, and joined its editorial board in 2023.
With Norma Klahn, she published the co-translation and scholarly edition of Carlos Monsiváis's feminist writing (with foreword by Marta Lamas) as Fatefully, Faithfully Feminist: A Critical History of Women, Patriarchy, and Mexican National Discourse. (Vanderbilt UP, 2024). She is a singer, a writer and a translator of poetry and prose. She was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 2023 for her co-translation, with Cheyla Samuelson, of Cristina Rivera Garza's poetry.
Prior to her time in Arizona, she lived, worked and studied on both coasts of the U.S., in the northeast, the mid-Atlantic and in the south. She has also lived and studied in Argentina, Portugal and Mexico. Luna finds herself quite at home in an interdisciplinary professional milieu as her work has never been tied exclusively to a single approach nor area of interest, neither geographically nor thematically. Her professional training in literature coupled with her background in musical performance, her love of photography and film, large-scale visual art and architecture as well as regional and national culinary traditions all feed her passions in and around Latin American studies. Her teaching and research defy the limiting notions of regional and disciplinary study to span across visible and invisible boundaries and creates new ways of thinking about our historic and future interconnectedness.
- Ph.D. Hispanic Languages and Literature (Emphasis in Translation Studies), University of California-Santa Barbara 2011
- M.A. Spanish and Portuguese (Honors), University of California-Santa Barbara 2006
- B.A. Spanish Literature (Magna Cum Laud), Bryn Mawr College 2001
Mexican/ Latin American women filmmakers
Mexican/ Latin American literature and film
Literary Translation
Feminism in Latin America
Poetry
Books
Norma Klahn and Ilana Luna. Scholarly edition, introduction to and translation of Fatefully, Faithfully Feminist: A Critical History of Women, Patriarchy, and Mexican National Discourse by Carlos Monsiváis. Vanderbilt University Press, 2024.
Huapaya, Giancarlo. Ilana Luna (trans.) taller sub verso. (sub verse workshop). Lavender Ink/ Diálogos, 2020.
Santopietro, Judith. Ilana Luna (trans.) Tiawanaku: Poems from the Mother Coqa. Orca Libros, 2019.
Rodinás, Juan José. Ilana Luna (trans.) Koan: Underwater. Cardboard House Press, 2018.
Luna, Ilana. Adapting Gender: Mexican Feminisms from Literature to Film. SUNY Press, 2018.
Poems/Articles/Translations
Rivera Garza, Cristina. Ilana Luna and Cheyla Samuelson (trans.) “thank goodness they’re not here” “the geology of the place” “the symptomatology of the place” Words without Borders. April 1, 2024.
Gómez Olivares, Cristián. Ilana Luna (trans.) “Una vez que la leña se hubiera terminado”/ “Once the Firewood Had Finally Burned Out” Elixir: Anuario de Poesía de San Diego 2023-24. March 1, 2024. 62-65.
Licea, Mónica. Ilana Luna (trans.) “Otra adaptación de Allen Ginsberg”/ “Another Adaptation of Allen Ginsberg.” Elixir: Anuario de Poesía de San Diego 2023-24. March 1, 2024. 78-79.
Rivera Garza, Cristina. Ilana Luna and Cheyla Samuelson (trans.) “Saturday April 17, 2010 12:49 a.m,” Academy of American Poets “Poem-a-day,” October 30, 2023.
Orozco, Gaspar. Ilana Luna (trans). “Untitled poem.” Reliquiae: Landscape, Nature, Mythology. Vol. 10:2. December 2022. 84-85.
Rivera Garza, Cristina. Ilana Luna and Cheyla Samuelson (trans.). Reprint of “Not Terrorized No” in Harper’s Magazine. June 2022. p. 20.
Rivera Garza, Cristina. Ilana Luna and Cheyla Samuelson (trans.). 6 poems. Lana Turner Journal of Poetry and Opinion. 14 (March, 2022): 206-220.
Alcantar, Stephanie. Ilana Luna (trans.) “The Borders Marched Off.” Tupelo Quarterly. Vol 28. December, 2022.
Luna, Ilana and Cheyla Samuelson. “Breathing in Tandem: Notes on Translating Cristina Rivera Garza’s Poetry.” Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies. May 2022.
Samuelson, Cheyla and Ilana Luna. “Translating is not Solitude: The Poetry of Cristina Rivera Garza” Lana Turner Journal of Poetry and Opinion. 14 (March, 2022): 201-5.
Gómez Olivares, Cristián, Ilana Luna (trans). “Altura” Oomph! Contemporary Works in Translation.4 (May 2022): 40-47.
Orozco, Gaspar. Ilana Luna (trans). Excerpts from: Book of Mirages and Minaret in Oomph! Contemporary Works in Translation. 4 (May 2022): 96-101.
Orozco, Gaspar. Ilana Luna (trans). Excerpts from: Book of Mirages with translator’s note in Poetry at Sangam, Vol. IX.2, July 2021.
Orozco, Gaspar. Ilana Luna (trans). Excerpts from: Book of Mirages and Minaret in Reliquiae: Landscape, Nature, Mythology. Vol.9:1. April 2021.
Luna, Ilana. Poems: “Lluvia en Oxford/ Rain in Oxford” “Dandelions/ Dientes de Leona” “Cactus Trees.” Contrapuntos, VII. Fall 2019/ Spring 2020.
Klahn, Norma and Ilana Luna. “Traducir a Monsiváis es mantenerlo vivo.” Inundación Castálida. La Revista del Claustro de Sor Juana. Vol. 15 Esquelas en la mar (June 2020): 34-38.
Orozco, Gaspar. Ilana Luna (trans.) Poemas urgentes: Resistencia a la represión actual en Chile: ‘The Eyes of Chile,’ ‘Medicinal Herbs from Araucania’”. Vice-Versa. Dec. 16, 2019.
Espinoza, Jorge Mauricio. Ilana Luna (trans.). “Bloodwater” “Lilith” “Independence for the Stateless” “Homeland of the rain” “Poetree” “Dendrophilia” “Decaffeinated” “Rain”Barzakh Literary Journal. Spring 2019.
Ramírez-Bermúdez, Jesús. Ilana Luna (trans.) “The Monarch, the Musician, and the Medic.” Hektoen International: Journal of the Medical Humanities. (Winter 2018). Honorable Mention: The Sixth Hektoen International Grand Prix essay.
Huapaya, Giancarlo. Ilana Luna (trans.). Poems: “H” “J” “O” from taller sub verso (sub verse workshop). Oomph! Contemporary Works in Translation. 2 (January 2018).
Ruíz Pérez, Ignacio. Ilana Luna (trans. ) “El trapecista/ The Trapeze Artist.” Spillway: A Poetry Magazine. Vol. 26 (August 2018): 90.
Huapaya, Giancarlo. Ilana Luna (trans.). Poems: “B” “I” “U” “V” from taller sub verso (sub verse workshop). Four Chambers. 5 (September 2017).
Huapaya, Giancarlo. Ilana Luna (trans.). Poems: “E” “G” “S” from taller sub verso (Sub Verse Workshop). Anomaly 25 (June 2017). Anomalous Press (formerly Drunken Boat).
Guillen, Paul. Ilana Luna (trans.). “Times of War,” “With E.C. We Smell Joel-Peter Witkin’s Photographs,” “The Invisible Spectator,” “Crocodile Tears,” “Uccello’s The Hunt in the Forest,” “Garcilaso and the Garcilasists (Fake Presentation).” Hostos Review/ Revista Hostosiana. 13 (2017): 40-51.
Huapaya, Giancarlo. Ilana Luna (trans.) Poem: “A” from taller sub verso. Jacket2. June 2016.
Ruíz Pérez, Ignacio. Ilana Luna (trans.). “Song of a Wounded Deer.” Askew 16 (2014). 35-36.
Luna, Ilana. “Cruzando fronteras: México-EUA en el cine del libre comercio.” Ventana Abierta: Special Edition, Fuentes de Lealtad hacia el norte y hacia el sur México y Estados Unidos. November, 2014. 124-31.
Luna, Ilana. “También la lluvia: Of Coproductions and Re-encounters, a Re-vision of the Colonial.” Eds. Oswaldo Estrada and Anna Nogar. Colonial Itineraries of Contemporary Mexico: Literary and Cultural Inquiries. Tucson: U of Arizona P, 2014. 190-210.
Luna, Ilana. “Otro modo de ser humano y libre: La mirada feminista de Busi Cortés en el nuevo cine mexicano.” Eds. José Antonio Mazzotti, Jorge Ruffinelli, Fernando Birri. Revista de crítica literaria latinoamericana. 73.1 (2011): 205-225.
2023 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Creative Writing/Translation Fellow
2022-23 Institute for Humanities Research Fellow (ASU)
2022 Matakyev Research Fellow at the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands (ASU)
2020 Finalist for the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation (UK Poetry Translation Centre) for translation of Tiawanaku: Poems from the Mother Coqa (Santopietro, 2019).
Courses
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| SPA 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| FOR 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| HST 324 | Food in Latin America |
| LAS 324 | Food in Latin America |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 433 | Film and Culture of Mexico |
| SPA 433 | Film and Culture of Mexico |
| LAS 205 | Deep Roots: Latin America |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| SPA 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| FOR 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| LAS 493 | Honors Thesis |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 205 | Deep Roots: Latin America |
| SPA 494 | Special Topics |
| SPA 598 | Special Topics |
| LAS 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| SPA 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| FOR 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| LAS 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 494 | Special Topics |
| SPA 494 | Special Topics |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| WST 790 | Reading and Conference |
| LAS 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| SPA 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| FOR 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| SPA 429 | Writing Mexico: Major Texts |
| LAS 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| WST 690 | Reading and Conference |
| LAS 205 | Deep Roots: Latin America |
| SPA 474 | Revolutnr Mexico&Postmdrn Revs |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| SPA 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| FOR 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| LAS 494 | Special Topics |
| SPA 494 | Special Topics |
2020 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 205 | Deep Roots: Latin America |
| SPA 325 | Intro to Hispanic Literature |
2020 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| LAS 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| SPA 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| FOR 449 | LatinAmCinema:Dead/Disappeared |
| LAS 340 | Latin American Women Writers |
| WST 341 | Latin American Women Writers |
2019 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| SPA 201 | Intermediate Spanish |
| LAS 330 | From the Inside/Lat Am Journey |
| LAS 205 | Deep Roots: Latin America |
- Ilana Luna. Cruzando fronteras: México-EUA en el cine del libre comercio. XVII Colloquium on Mexican Literature: Tan Lejos de Dios. University of California, Santa Barbara (Nov 2014).
- Ilana Luna. El cine de Michel Franco: Violencia neoliberal y aislamiento social. IV Foro de Análisis Cinematográfico (FACINE) Tijuana, Mexico (Sep 2014).
- Ilana Luna. La bobe y Tela de Sevoya: La muerte y el lenguaje del amor. XX Annual Juan Bruce Novoa Mexican Studies Conference: University of California, Irvine (May 2014).
- Adolescent alienation and nation: violence from above in the works of Michel Franco. Adolescent alienation and nation: violence from above in the works of Michel Franco. Latin American Studies Association (LASA 2014) Congress, Chicago, Illinois (May 2014).
- Ilana Luna. Tela de sevoya: lenguaje y memoria. Rastreando una identidad sefardita en México. Congreso de Literatura Mexicana Contemporánea, University of Texas, El Paso (Mar 2014).
- Ilana Luna. Alta infidelidad, El silencio de las amantes: apuntes desde la cama de ‘las otras’. XVI Colloquium on Mexican Literature: Huellas del tiempo/ Traces of Time (Nov 2013).
- Emergency Preparedness Committee, member (2014 - Present)
- IHR research cluster "Interpreting Contemporary Violence: Mexico, U.S.", member (2014 - Present)
- Arizona Interfaith Alliance for Worker Justice, Board Member (2014 - Present)
- Entre NosOtras, Founding member, event organizer (2014 - Present)
- Hispanic Heritage Committee, member (2014 - Present)
- Human Rights Film Festival, Organizing committee member (2014 - Present)
- Martin Luther Kind Day Committee, member (2014 - Present)
- SHArCS, LAS program developer (2014 - Present)
- SHArCS, course developer (2013 - Present)
- Arizona Interfaith Alliance for Worker Justice, Board Member (2013 - Present)