Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies Nadia Celis

Nadia Celis's research focuses on Caribbean literature and culture, with an emphasis on gender and intimacy. Her latest book, Crónica de un amor terrible. La historia secreta de la novia devuelta en la muerte anunciada de García Márquez (Penguin Random House, 2023), tells the story of the real woman behind the female protagonist of Marquez's novel Chronicle of A Death Foretold. Celis is currently working on another book about Márquez, on whom she has published numerous articles in academic journals, magazines, newspapers, and other media. Her article "Entre el 'crimen atroz' y el 'amor terrible': Poder y violencia en Crónica de una muerte anunciada de Gabriel García Márquez" won the 2018 Victoria Urbano Award for best critical essay from the Asociación de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades AEGS. Celis's first book, La rebelión de las niñas: El Caribe y la "conciencia corporal," won the 2016–2017 Nicolás Guillén Award for outstanding book in philosophical literature from the Caribbean Philosophical Association. She is also coeditor of the 2011 Mayra Santos-Febres y el Caribe contemporáneo. Her articles and chapters on Caribbean women writers have been published in a variety of academic journals, including Latin American Literature Today, Revista de estudios colombianos and Revista Iberoamericana. Celis earned a BA in 2000 in linguistics and literature from the Universidad de Cartagena, Colombia, and her MA and PhD in Spanish from Rutgers University in 2007. That same year, she joined Bowdoin's faculty as assistant professor of Romance languages and literatures. She was promoted to associate professor in 2014 and assumed a joint professorship in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies Program in 2020. "In my latest book, Chronicle of a Terrible Love, I made the transition from a purely academic writing into creative nonfiction," she said. "The reception has been great, and I have truly loved expanding the conversation about my feminist concerns with power, love, and violence to a wider audience. This move has consolidated my commitment to public humanities, and it is also influencing my teaching."