Gibraltar writers Humbert Hernandez and M. G. Sanchez were recently invited to speak to students who have been studying their work at the University of California Davis in the US.

The online presentations were organised by Professor Robert Newcomb of the University of California Davis’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese and were part of a module entitled ‘Cross-Border Fictions.’

Professor Newcomb’s ‘Cross-Border Fictions’ course focused on late 20th and early 21st century literary works, and writings by Hernandez and Sanchez formed part of this year’s syllabus along with Gloria Anzaldúa’s seminal essay ‘The New Mestiza’ and other border-related texts

The course was designed to expose students to cross-border issues such as travel, migration, and hybrid and multi-cultural identities.

Sanchez spoke about his story ’Timeshare’ on 14 May, and Hernandez about his piece ‘El Acordeonista’ on 2 June. The other guest speaker invited to address the students was the California-based visual artist and academic Maceo Montoya, who spoke on 28 May.