Salem Meets The Noir - 2026 Program

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Tuesday, May 19

8–9 am Check-in and Breakfast, Bertolon Café

9–9:25 am Welcome Remarks

David Silva, Provost and Academic Vice President, Salem State University

Elisa Castillo, Associate Vice President for for HSI-MSI Initiatives, Salem State University

Committee Members (Introduction)

9:30–10:45 am

Panel Session 1: Caribbean Noir

Location: Central Campus 112

Moderator: Inma Pertusa, Professor, Western Kentucky University

Michele C. Dávila Gonçalves, Professor, Salem State University: “Las intersecciones del noir en la narrativa puertorriqueña contemporánea”

Celia Ayala Lugo, Doctoral Candidate / Professor, University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras: “Crimen en la colonia: Analysis of San Juan Noir Short Stories Through Fanonian Lenses”

Angel Rivera, Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute: “La novela negra y la culpa en Morir en la arena de Leonardo Padura”

10:50 am–12:05 pm Panel Session 2: Galician Noir and Spanish Noir

Location: Central Campus 112

Moderator: Terri Carney, Professor, Butler University

Abeer Abdel Hafez, Professor, Cairo University: “La sombra del viento de Carlos Ruiz Zafón, hacia un Quijotismo negro”

Josefina Sánchez Moneny, Independent Researcher, “Derivas de lo misterioso en los cuentos de Emilia Pardo Bazán”

Dosinda Alvite, Professor, Denison University: “Noir genealógico: Trauma, poder y transgresión en la novela criminal contemporánea”

Alicia Escardó, Writer and Cultural Manager, Uruguay: “De víctima a protagonista: El cambio en el rol de la mujer en la novela negra”

12:05–1 pm Lunch, Bertolon Café

1–2:15 pm Plenary Session

Location: Petrowski Room, Marsh Dining, Second Floor

Introduction by Michele C. Dávila Gonçalves, Professor, Salem State University

Carmen Amato, Author. A CIA veteran turning real-life danger and deception into crime fiction, is the author of the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. The Hidden Light of Mexico City was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.

2:30–3:45 pm Panel Session 3: Narratives of Violence and Mystery in the Noir of Puerto Rico, Colombia, España y Perú

Location: Central Campus 112

Moderator: Fatima Serra, Professor, Salem State University

Eduardo Ortiz Maldonado, Professor, University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo: “La melancolía de los killers: El anti-heroísmo literario como sobredosis y regresión”

Emma Domenech Flores, Professor, University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo: “La estructura matriarcal en la novela negra Las que no duermen de Dolores Redondo”

Evelyn Jiménez Rivera, Professor, University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo: “Donde habita el crimen: Espacio, memoria y atmósfera en El ojo de agua y La urbanización de Evelyn Jiménez Rivera”

Glen Close, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison: “Noir Pastiche and the Composite Corpse: Santiago Roncagliolo’s Abril rojo (Red April, 2006)”

3:45–4:15 pm Coffee Break, Bertolon Café

4:15–5:15 pm Reading and Conversation with the Authors

Location: Bertolon Café

Moderators: Michele C. Dávila Gonçalves, Professor, Salem State University and Fatima Serra, Professor, Salem State University

Carmen Amato and Evelyn Jiménez Rivera: Book Signing and Sales

Carmen Amato, Author.

Evelyn Jiménez Rivera is a professor at the University of Puerto Rico and a Juris Doctor. She is the author of El ojo de agua (2018) and La urbanización (2025). In 2018, she was awarded a distinguished lectureship for her research on militarized spaces in western Puerto Rico, which inspired a documentary and her novel El ojo de agua.

5:15–6:15 pm Reception

6:30 pm Dinner (On Your Own)

Participants dine independently in Salem. For recommendations, visit salem.org/food-and-drink .

Wednesday, May 20

8–9 am Check-in and Breakfast, Forten 123

9–10 am Virtual Conversation with Scriptwriter Isa Sánchez (Scriptwriter)

Location: Petrowski, Marsh Dining Second Floor)

Moderator: Terri Carney, Professor, Butler Universit y Isabel Sánchez Castro is a Spanish screenwriter for film and television. She has worked on films such as 321 Days in Michigan and on series like The Ministry of Time, as well as contributing to recent productions for platforms like Netflix and HBO. Her career spans film, television, and teaching, and she is known for her realistic approach and careful storytelling.

10:15–11:30 am Panel Session 4: Argentinian Noir

Location: Petrowski, Marsh Dining, Second Floor

Moderator: Melissa Stewart, Professor, Western Kentucky University

Alicia Mercado Harvey, Assistant Professor, New College of Florida: “Teenage Female Agency in Two Rural Noir Argentine Novels”

Osvaldo Di Paolo Harrison, Professor, Austin Peay State University: “The Anatomy of Darkness: Argentine Gothic-Noir Fusion in The Black Vampire ”

Dona Kercher, Professor Emerita, Assumption University: “The Sci-Fi Noir of The Eternaut (2025): Restaging Buenos Aires and Its History”

Ramiro Garcia-Olano, Visiting Assistant Professor, Denison University: “Gauchesca noir: Violencia, oralidad y territorio en Narraciones correntinas de Saturnino Muniagurria y Los casos de Don Frutos Gómez de Velmiro Ayala Gauna”

11:45 am–12:45 pm Lunch, Marsh Dining

12:45–2 pm Panel Session 5: Feminist Noir

Location: Petrowski, Marsh Dining, Second Floor

Moderator: Inma Pertusa, Professor, Western Kentucky University

Maureen Tobin Stanley, Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth: “Carcoma: Layla Martínez’s Feminist Pseudo-gothic Noir Novella”

Alana Reid, Associate Professor, University of Central Arkansas: “Centering the Unknowable: Feminist Noir in Boullosa and Rivera Garza”

Daniel Chavez, Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire: “The Wise Latina Female Detective Paradigm: Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico”

2:10–3:35 pm

Panel Session 6: Gothic and Border Noir

Location: Petrowski, Marsh Dining, Second Floor

Moderator: Michele C. Dávila Gonçalves, Professor, Salem State University

Tess Meddings, Doctoral Student, Bowling Green State University: “The Neo-Noir Border Film: Surveillance, Hacktivism, and Identity in Alex Rivera’s Sleep Dealer ”

Yarelys Meléndez Medina, Master’s Student, University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras : “The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia MorenoGarcia: Reincarnation, Art, and Identity. ”

Sydni Salinas, PhD Student, University of Texas at San Antonio: “Conjuring Against Consumption: Brujería, Curanderismo, and Gender in Vampires of El Norte and The Bewitching ”

4:30 pm Arrival at The House of the Seven Gables

5–6:30 pm Virtual Fireside Chat

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of The Bewitching, Mexican Gothic and many other books. She has won the Locus, British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards. She writes in a variety of genres, including fantasy, horror, noir and historical novels

Moderators: Fatima Serra, Professor, Salem State University and Keja Valens, Professor, Salem State University

Light Refreshments

6:30 pm Dinner (On Your Own in Salem)

Thursday, May 21

8:30–9:30 am Breakfast, Forten 123

9:30–11 am Panel Session 7: Book Presentation

Location: Forten 123

Moderator: Melissa Stewart, Professor, Western Kentucky University

Inma Pertusa, Professor, Western Kentucky University

Maureen Tobin Stanley, Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth

Terri Carney, Professor, Butler University

Eva Paris, Professor, Ohio Wesleyan University

Fatima Serra, Professor, Salem State University

Serial Authorship and New Directions in Spanish Female Detective

Fiction (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024)

11 am

Closing Remarks

Committee Members

Afternoon Optional Cultural Activities. Visit on your own time:

• The House of the Seven Gables (7gables.org) Discount available for conference participants.

• Salem Wax Museum (salemwaxmuseum.com) Free for conference participants

• Salem Atheneum (salemathenaeum.net) Entrance is free. Conference participants can request a tour.

North Campus

1. Sullivan Building (SB)

School of Graduate Studies

McKeown School of Education

School of Continuing and Professional Studies

2. Administration Building (ADM) / Human Resources

3. 331 Lafayette Street

Admissions / Campus Tours

President’s Office

Advancement Office

4. Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts

5. North Campus Café / SSU Bookstore (Upper Level)

6. Meier Hall (MH) / College of Arts and Sciences

7. Peabody Residence Hall (PH)

8. North Campus Parking Garage

9. Berry Library and Learning Commons (BL)

10. Ellison Campus Center (ECC) / Alumni Plaza

11. North Campus Quad / McKeown Plaza

12. Horace Mann Building (Temporarily Closed)

13. Bowditch Residence Hall (BH)

14. ITS Help Desk

Nancy D. Harrington Campus (Central)

15. Classroom Building / Bertolon School of Business

16. Student Navigation Center

17. Recital Hall

18. University Police

19. Marsh Dining Commons / Conference Center

20. Marsh Residence Hall (MAR)

21. Atlantic Residence Hall (ATL) / Residence Life

22. Baseball Field

23. Tennis Courts

24. Agganis Building / Enterprise Center (ENT)

25. Student Technology Resource Center

26. Forten 123

27. Charlotte Forten Residence Hall (CFH)

28. Stanley Building (STLY) / Shipping and Receiving

29. Facilities Storage

30. Bike Path Entrance O’Keefe Complex (OK)

31. Alumni Field

32. Twohig Gymnasium

33. Gassett Fitness Center (GF)

34. Rockett Arena South Campus

36. South Campus Gymnasium

35. Harrington Building (HB) Maguire Meservey College of Health and Human Services / School of Nursing

Campus Nort e

1. Ed ifi ci o Sulli van (S B)

Escuel a de Est udios de Po st gr ad o

Escuel a McKeow n de Educaci ón

Escuel a de Co nt inuaci ón y Est udios P rof esionale s

2. Ed ifi ci o de Ad minis tr ació n (A DM ) / Recur sos Humanos

3. 33 1 La fa ye tt e St reet

Ad misiones / Vi si tas y reco rrid os de l campus

Ofi ci na de l President e

Ofi ci na de Recaudaci ón

4. Ce ntro Go rd on de Ar te s Cr ea ti vas y Escé nicas

5. Café de l Campus No rt e / L ibr er ía (segund o ni vel)

6. Ed ifi ci o Meier Hall (MH)

Co legio de Ar te s y Ci encias

7. Residencia Peabod y Hall (P H)

8. Estaci onamiento de l Campus No rt e

9. Bibli oteca Berr y (B L) / Centro de Ap re ndizaj e

10 Centro de l Campus E lliso n (E CC ) / Plaz a de Al u mno s

11 Pa ti o de l Campus No rt e/ Plaz a McKeow n

12 Ed ifi ci o Horace Mann (Temporalmente cerr ado)

13 Residencia B owd it ch Hall (BH)

14 Centro de Serv icios Tecn ológicos ( ITS )

Campus Nancy D. Harr ington

16 Centro de Navegaci ón Est udian ti l

17 Sala de R eci tale s

18 P olicía de la univ er si dad

19 Co medor Mars h/ Centro de Co nf er encias

20 Residencia Mars h Hall (M AR )

21 Residencia At lant ic Hall (ATL ) / Vi da Residencial

22 Camp o de béisbol

23 Canchas de teni s

24 Ed ifi ci o Agganis / Centro E mpresar ial (E NT )

25 Centro Tecn ológico Est udian ti l

26 Fo rt en12 3

27 Residencia de Char lo tt e Fo rt en (V ik ing) (C FH )

29 Al macén de in st alacione s

30 Entr ada a la ciclov ía

Complejo Deport ivo O’ Keefe (OK)

31 Camp o de Al u mno s

32 Cancha Tw ohi g

33 Gimnasio Gasset t (G F)

34 Rocket t Ar ena Campus Sur

35 Ed ifi ci o Harrin gto n (HB)

15 Ed ifi ci o de clases (C C) Escuel a de Negoci os Bert olon

28 Ed ifi ci o Stanle y (STLY) / ITS / Centro Envíos y R eci bo s

36 Gimnasio de l Campus Sur

Complejo Deportivo O’Keefe

Co legio de Salu d y Serv icios Humanos Maguir e Meserv ey / Escuel a de Enf er mería

Estacionamiento Parada de autobús Teléfono de emergencia

Entrada accesible

Estacionamiento para discapacitados

Estacionamiento para estudiantes

Estacionamiento para facultad y personal de la universidad

Estación de carga para coche eléctrico

Estacionamiento para Centro Empresarial

Estacionamiento para visitantes