Visiting scholar María J. Hernáez’s seven-year literary journey towards the completion of her latest manuscript also involved physically travelling many miles between the island of Newfoundland and her native Spain.

Pathways of Creativity in Contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador is a collection of essays contributed by Memorial faculty members and other prominent local writers.

“The book comes with an introduction which revises previous criticism of Newfoundland and Labrador literature and culture, placing it within the broader field of Canadian studies,” said Ms. Hernáez.

There was a common effort to bring Aboriginal culture and writing to the foreground, as well.

“The critical insights of the 12 chapters of the book are complemented by a final section where writers speak about their motivation and experiences as Newfoundlanders around topics such as creativity, sense of place, nationhood, the past, their own work and that of other writers, etc.,” she said.

A critical anthologist and self-described “Canadianist” based at the University of La Rioja in Northern Spain, it is the American and Canadian literature professor’s seventh visit to the province. Over the years, Ms. Hernáez has gone from stumbling upon a couple of novels about Newfoundland and Labrador by chance to a full-blown “obsession” of the province’s literary output and the “mystique” of the place itself.

“Islands have a power,” she said during an interview in her office on the fifth floor of the Education building on the St. John’s campus. “They have mythologized themselves and there is a level of isolation created . . . Here it is like a country within a country. It is appealing because it is precisely opposite of what Canadians ask: ‘Who are we?’ Newfoundlanders have such a strong sense of who they are.”

In addition to the Pathways anthology, Ms. Hernáez has published critical essays about novelist and Memorial creative writing instructor Lisa Moore, as well as a number of other local writers, Michael Crummey among them. She also incorporates her research on Memorial and Newfoundland and Labrador authors into the graduate-level courses she teaches back home in Logroño, Spain. Memorial poets, including Mary Dalton and Patrick Warner, as well as other writers, such as Robin McGrath, John Steffler and Don Austin, are favourite subjects for her classes.

Her work has also built bridges between the two academic institutions. Numerous faculty members and instructors have travelled to Ms. Hernáez’s institution on educational exchanges. Most recently, two members of the Faculty of Education taught an undergraduate seminar on the relationship between teaching and social justice.

One of the visiting professors, Dr. Roberta Hammett, Honorary Research Professor at Memorial, says her ongoing relationship with Ms. Hernaez ― in this province and in Spain ― will broaden knowledge and support future research in the field of education.

“Our profession values international reputation and publication,” she said. “This makes opportunities to present and collaborate “on the ground” particularly important. As we experienced when we met with Ms. Hernaez's students at U. La Rioja, perspectives are greatly enhanced on both sides by conversation and engagement.”

Dr. Adrian Fowler, professor emeritus, English Language and Literature, Grenfell Campus, authored a Pathways chapter titled Townie Lit: Newfoundland Refocused in the Writing of Lisa Moore and Michael Winter. He says Ms. Hernáez has encouraged a variety of perspectives and approaches, provided a broader view of the subject than has been seen before and stimulated a dynamic of dialogue and discussion.

“She is a recognized expert on Canadian literature and her focus on Newfoundland and Labrador brings the literature of the province to the attention of many readers in Europe and elsewhere,” he said. “Maria is passionate about the creative culture of Newfoundland and Labrador and she is a first-class editor of scholarly writing ― imaginative, meticulous and tenacious. Hardly less important personally is that in the process we have become friends.”

Ms. Hernáez will return to Spain in mid-August; Pathways of Creativity in Contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador, to be published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, will be available in late 2015.