Latin American Short Stories Reading Group | September 2026

For our September gathering, we’ll María Ospina Pizano four of her stories: Fauna of the Ages, Policarpa, Saving Young Ladies, and Variations on the Body.

Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: 55+ Seniors Centre - Britannia Community Services Centre (1661 Napier St, Vancouver, BC, V5L 4X4)

This is a FREE event, but registration is required. Save your spot by getting a ticket here.

Through vivid, unconventional storytelling, Ospina explores the intimate worlds of women, animals, bodies, and everyday life, while raising larger questions about memory, identity, transformation, and the social realities of contemporary Colombia. These four stories offer a fascinating entry point into her literary universe and plenty of material for conversation and reflection.

Facilitated by Professor Pilar Riaño-Alcalá, this session invites participants to explore the stories together, considering their themes, characters, imagery, and connections to Colombian history and society. Whether you are familiar with Ospina’s writing or discovering her work for the first time, the reading group offers a welcoming space to exchange perspectives and experience Latin American literature in community.

No previous experience with Latin American literature is necessary; just bring your curiosity! The stories are available in both Spanish and English translations. The discussion will be held in English.

Read the stories here:

About the facilitator

Pilar Riaño-Alcalá is a professor at the Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia and co-lead of the Transformative Memory International Network. As an anthropologist and interdisciplinary scholar, her research focuses on historical memory, social repair, forensics of care, and the lived experiences of violence in the afterlives of mass violence. Pilar explores the ethnography of memory through oral history, sound memory, and social practice art. She is particularly interested in the politics of knowledge and epistemic justice, using creative and relational methodologies that integrate different forms of emplaced and relational knowing and emphasize action and change in knowledge production. Her current projects include ; Exhumations and Reburial in Colombia, and Sacred Responsibilities to Water, a Canada-Colombia Indigenous Knowledge Exchange. Pilar’s published works include Avanzar a tientas. Memorias, violencias y producción de conocimiento; Dwellers of Memory: Youth and Violence in Medellín, Colombia (Transaction Publishers, 2006, ebook Routledge, 2017) , and Poniendo Tierra de por Medio: Migración Forzada de Colombianos en Colombia, Ecuador y Canadá, alongside numerous journal articles in Memory Studies, International Journal of Transitional Justice, and more.

Pilar has collaborated for over two decades with public performance artist Suzanne Lacy on project, which has been featured in exhibitions worldwide, and Museo de Antioquia, Art Biennale. As a public intellectual, she has worked extensively with community organizations in Colombia and Uganda on historical memory initiatives, including her role as a researcher for the Historical Memory Group from 2008 to 2013. Pilar also advised the Museum of Historical Memory of Colombia on its conceptual development (2015-2018). Through her work, Pilar has made significant contributions to both scholarly discourse and community-based efforts aimed at justice, memory, and social transformation.

Please note that this event will be photographed and filmed for internal documentation and promotional purposes. If you do not wish to appear in any photos or recordings, please let us know when you arrive.

With the support of Britannia Community Services Centre.