Gail Ament, professor of Spanish at Morningside College, recently gave a presentation at the International Conference on Hispanic Literature in Santiago, Chile.

Gail Ament, professor of Spanish at Morningside College, recently gave a presentation at the International Conference on Hispanic Literature in Santiago, Chile.

Her presentation, “Narrative Simultaneity in ‘Carne de Dios’ by Homero Aridjis,” discussed the Mexican author’s 2015 fictional account of the real María Sabina – a Mazatecan woman of Oaxaca revered for her ritualistic knowledge of hallucinogenic mushrooms – and the countercultural writers and musicians who sought her out.

Ament first traveled to Oaxaca as a college student, and she has continued to visit the city regularly over the years, even working at a library where she learns about writers like Aridjis. Ament joined the faculty at Morningside College in 1998. She has a master’s degree from the University of Montana and a doctorate from the University of Washington. She was a Fulbright Scholar to Guatemala from 1995 to 1996.