Sophie Lavoie

Sophie M. Lavoie conducts research in the areas of women’s writing and social change in Central America and the Caribbean. Her studies focus on women in contemporary Nicaragua during the first Sandinista era (1970-1990), but she is also interested in other revolutionary movements in the area, such as Cuba and El Salvador and in women’s writing in Latin America. Her current research project focuses on the link between women’s writing, empowerment, and revolutionary action during the Sandinista era in Nicaragua.

Dr. Lavoie is also an associate faculty member in the International Development Studies program, the Women's Studies program, and the Film Studies Program at UNB.

Dr. Lavoie has been the Director of the Creative Registry of the Canadian Association of Hispanists (founded by Nela Rio) since 2012. She is the past President of the Association of Hispanists of the Atlantic Provinces (AHPA), Treasurer for the Society for Literary Criticism of Spanish American Women Writers (CCLEH) and Chronicler for the Fredericton Chapter of the Ibero-American Academy of Poetry.

Dr. Lavoie previously taught in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Laurentian University (Sudbury) and in the Department of Spanish at Dalhousie University (Halifax).

Education

• PhD and DEA (Diplôme d’Études Approfondies) in Études Romanes, France’s Université de Provence
• MA in Spanish, Queen’s University
• BA from the University of King’s College (Halifax)

Courses taught

• SPAN 1203 - Introductory Spanish
• CCS 1014 - The Culture of Spain and Latin America II
• SPAN 3202 - Advanced Oral Spanish I (no longer offered)
• SPAN 3203 - Advanced Spanish I: Advanced Grammar (no longer offered)
• SPAN 3204 - Advanced Spanish II: Conversation and Composition (no longer offered)
• SPAN 3205 - Advanced Translation (no longer offered)
• CCS 3904 - Background of Latin American Cultures
• CCS 3455 - Latin American Cinema
• CCS 3456 - The Cinema of Spain
• SPAN 3794 - Contemporary Spanish American Narrative
• CCS 3003 Contemporary Issues in World Literature and Culture (The Greening of Culture: Ecocriticism, Environment & Ecological Thought)

Selected publications

Translator. Marsh Blue Violet: A Queer New Brunswick Anthology./Violette Bleue Marécage: Anthologie de poésie queer du Nouveau-Brunswick. RM Vaughan, Ed. Victoria, BC : Frog Hollow Books, 2021. ISBN 978-1-989946-06-0

Translator. Neilson, Shane, Ed. Reversing Falls Book 1: English Language Poems of New Brunswick Translated into French/Chutes Réversibles Livre 1 : Poèmes du Nouveau Brunswick en langue anglais, traduits en français. Victoria, BC : Frog Hollow Books, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-92694-897-3

Translator. Neilson, Shane, Ed. Reversing Falls Book 2: English Language Poems of New Brunswick Translated into French./Chutes Réversibles Livre 2 : Poèmes du Nouveau Brunswick en langue anglais, traduits en français. Victoria, BC : Frog Hollow Books, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-92694-898-0

Translator (into French). Neyda H. Long (author) La Bella Flor/The Beautiful Flower/La Jolie Fleur (quadrilingual children’s book). Fredericton, NB: Editions de l’Ancre, 2020. ISBN: 978-2-98163-816-8 

Translator (into Spanish). Kathou (author) Papoo et l'anneau magique/Papoo y el anillo mágico. (bilingual children’s book). Fredericton, NB: Editions de l’Ancre, 2019. ISBN: 978-2-98163-814-4

with L. Rojas Benavente, Eds. Hilar Historias : Antología de escritoras latinocanadienses. Fredericton : Éditions de l’Ancre/CCLEH, 2020. ISBN : 978-2-9816381-5-1

“Carmen Rodríguez y Carmen Aguirre: Ficcionalizaciones de la familia revolucionaria” Revolución y Cultura, Cuba, 2, 2019: 9-13.

with L. Rojas Benavente, Eds. Construyendo Memoria : Escritoras latinocanadienses en el nuevo milenio. Toronto: ANTARES, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-77355-001-5. 117 p.

Translator. Chacaby, Ma-Nee and Mary Louisa Plummer. Un parcours bispirituel: Récit d'une aînée ojibwé-crie lesbienne. Montréal: éditions du remue-ménage, 2018. (memoir, from English to French)

Translator. Joe, Rita. Nous sommes les rêveurs. Montréal: Mémoire d'Encrier, 2016. (poetry, from English to French)

“La trayectoria identidaria de Carmen Aguirre: Testimonio de una (latino) canadiense revolucionaria” Oltreoceano: Rivista sulle migrazioni, 11, 2016: 219-229.

“Review of The Faces of Inclusion: Historical Fiction in Post-Dictatorship Argentina by Wojciech Tokarz” Belphégor: Littérature Populaire et Culture Médiatique. 13:1, 2015.

“Review of Eufrosina’s Revolution. [Motion picture]. Kaplan, L. (Director). (2014).” AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 12:2, 2016: 205-207.

“Review of Anacaona. La construcción de la cacica taína de Quisqueyz. Quinientos años de ideologización by Catharina V. de Vallejo” Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, 40:2, Winter 2016: 484-85.

“Review of Exile and Nomadism in French and Hispanic Women’s Writing by Kate Averis” Hispanic Research Journal. (accepted)

“At the Movies: Lucrecia Martel’s La ciudad que huye” Numéro Cinq Magazine, May 2015.

“Review of Huicholes: Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians directed by Hernán Vilchez” AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. Vol 11.2, 2015: 205-207.

“Review of From Sugar to Revolution: Women’s Visions of Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic by Myriam J. A. Chancy” International Journal of Cuban Studies, Vol. 7.1, Spring 2015. (Forthcoming)

“Review of Sandino’s Nation: Ernesto Cardenal and Sergio Ramírez Writing Nicaragua, 1940-2012 by Stephen Henighan” Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, Vol. 38.3, Spring 2014: 612-614.

(Translator) with Hugh Hazelton. Nela Rio. El laberinto vertical/Vertical Labyrinth. Fredericton/Montreal: Broken Jaw Press/La Enana Blanca, 2014.

“Alejo Carpentier” ,“Carlos Fuentes”, “Claribel Alegría”, “Gioconda Belli”, “Rosario Aguilar”, “Rubén Darío” The Literary Encyclopedia. Vol 4.3.3.00: Hispanic Writing and Culture of Central America and the Caribbean. Maria del Pilar Blanco, Ben Bollig, Cara Levey , Eds.

“Nela Rio”, NB Literary Encyclopedia, Summer 2011 (updated Summer 2014).

“Étoile d’eau de la poétesse péruvo-québécoise Lady Rojas Benavente : Les altérités de l’immigrante au Québec ” Pluri-Culture et Écrits migratoires/ Pluri-Culture and Migrant Writings. Sous la direction de Elizabeth Sabiston & Robert Drummond. Sudbury, ON: Série Monographique en Sciences Humaines 17, 2014: 301-314.

(Associate Editor) Mensaje indígena de agua/Indigenous Message on Water. Sánchez Martínez, J.G. & F.Q. Quintanilla, Eds. London, ON, 2013. 222 p. ISBN: 978-0-9917321-1-1

“Trafficking History: Leonardo Padura Fuentes' La Neblina del ayer” Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, “Tráfico y producción cultural: Trazas de una globalización fragmentada”, 38:1, Fall 2013: 79-100.

“Review of Red Medicine: Traditional Indigenous Rites of Birthing and Healing by Patrisia Gonzales” AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. 9:2, 2013:178-180.

“At the Movies: Lucrecia Martel’s Muta” Numéro Cinq Magazine, March 26, 2012.

“At the Movies: Lucrecia Martel’s Pescados” Numéro Cinq Magazine. Aug. 27/Sept. 3, 2012.

“Review of Scènes de Crimes : Enquêtes sur le Roman Policier Contemporain by Norbert Spehner. ” University of Toronto Quarterly. 80: 2, 2011: 506-510.

“Review of Indicios, señales y narraciones : Literatura policíaca en lengua española de Enrique Rodrigues-Moura, Ed. (Innsbruck University Press, 2010)” Belphégor: Littérature Populaire et Culture Médiatique, 10:2, 2011.

“Review of Sueños y desencantos de novelas y películas cubanas del periodo especial by Diana Sarabia ” International Journal of Cuban Studies, Vol. 3.4, Winter 2011: 384-387.

“Lanzamiento del Libro de Lady Rojas Benavente: Canto Poético a Capella de Las Escritoras Peruanas de 1900 a 1960” in Sus huellas son letras: Escritoras hispano-canadienses, Sus críticos y traductores. Lady Rojas Benavente, Comp. Montréal; CCLEH/Alondras, 2011: 71-76. ISBN: 978-2-923143-20-0.

“Sandinismo inédito, ¿sandinismo feminista? Waslala: memorial del futuro (1996) de Gioconda Belli” Actas del XVI Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas. Nuevos caminos del hispanismo... Civil, Pierre & Françoise Crémoux, eds. Madrid/Frankfurt: Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2010. ISBN 9788484895398

“Carnicería Teatro y consumo: la escritura teatral de Rodrigo García en la España de la globalización” in Un hispanismo para el siglo XXI: Ensayos de crítica cultural, R. Cornejo-Parriego & A. Villamandos, Eds. Madrid, Biblioteca Nueva, 2010: 182-197. ISBN 978-84-9940-188-1

Guest Editor. Belphégor: Littérature Populaire et Culture Médiatique Vol. 9 No. 3 (The Politics of the Detective Novel) Décembre 2010.

“Périphérie historique et portée contemporaine d’un personnage: Itzà de La mujer habitada de l’auteur nicaraguayen Gioconda Belli” Pandora: Revue d’Études Hispaniques, Département d’Études Hispaniques et Hispano-américaines, Université Paris 8, Vol. 9 (Marge(s)) 2009: 131-147.

"Le féminisme en Amérique centrale : L’exemple du Nicaragua à la fin du XXe siècle" Canadian Woman Studies / les cahiers de la femme, Vol. 27 No. 1 (Latin American Women), Fall 2008 / Winter 2009: 58-62.

“Gioconda Belli,” “Sergio Ramírez.” Dictionnaire des littératures hispaniques. Espagne et Amérique latine. Jordi Bonells (Dir.). Paris: Robert Laffont, coll. "Bouquins", 2009.

“Waslala : memorial del futuro de Gioconda Belli: l’auberge microcosme” Cahiers d'études romanes, Nouvelle série, Centre Aixois d’Études Romanes, Université de Provence (Aix-Marseille I), n° 17/1 (Auberges, hôtels et autres lieux d’étape), 2007: 253-262.

"Pasado perfecto de Leonardo Padura Fuentes: reflet parfait ou approximatif de la société cubaine?” Cahiers d'Études Romanes, Nouvelle série, Centre Aixois d’Études Romanes, Université de Provence (Aix-Marseille I), n° 15/2 (Le roman policier italien et latino-américain), 2006: 109-121.

With John Kirk. “Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Symbol of the New Cuban Literature: Comments on Pasado perfecto” in The Crime Fiction of Leonardo Padura Fuentes. Carlos Uxo, ed. Manchester Metropolitan University Press, Manchester, U.K., 2006: 88-105.

“Fidel’s Cuba, aka The Prolific Purgatory of Leonardo Padura Fuentes’ star detective” Descant, Toronto, Canada, No 134 (Vol 37/3), Fall 2006: 244-250.

‘Terreno Fértil’: La posición social de la mujer nicaragüense hasta la revolución sandinista”, Revista Centroamericana, Dante Liano, Ed. Cattedra di Lingua e Letteratura Spagnola, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, vol. 11, 2005: 59-76.