Dianna Niebylski (Ph.D, Comparative Literature, Brandeis University). Hispanic Studies. Areas of specialization: 20th and 21st Century Latin American Fiction, Humor Studies, Latin American women authors, Urban Studies in Contemporary Literature. Books: Humoring Resistance: Laughter, Bodies and Excess in latin American Women's Fictions (SUNY, 2004). The Poem on the Edge of the Word: The Limits of Language and the Uses of Silence in the Poetry of Mallarmé, Rilke, Vallejo (Lang, 1993). Forthcoming: Rosario Ferré: "Maldito amor" y otros cuentos. Edición anotada y comentada (Fondo de Cultura Económica, Dec. 2005). "Risas y rebeldes: el cuerpo femenino y el humor en la literatura femenina hispanoamericana" (under review). Current Projects: "Poverty and Its Representation in Contemporary Latin American Literature, Art & Cinema," "The Trans-American Gothic in 20th Century Fiction." Former Program Director of Latin American Studies at the University of Kentucky. She has been MMLA President and serves on the editorial board of two major journals.