Jennifer Rathbun
Professor of Spanish
Department:
Modern Languages and Classics
Jennifer Rathbun is a scholar and creative writer whose work centers on Latin American Literature and literary translation. She is the author of the poetry collections Precipicio / Precipice (2023) and El libro de traiciones / The Book of Betrayals (2021), and the editor of two poetry anthologies featuring the work of over fifty authors whose verses denounce femicide along the US-Mexico border. In 2021, Rathbun received the Ambroggio Prize from the Academy of American Poets for her translation of Cardinal in My Window With a Mask on its Beak (U of Arizona Press 2022) by Colombian author Carlos Aguasaco. Her most recent publication is Amherst Suite: Emily Dickinson, Spanish Trnaslation and Poetic Transcreation (Amherst College Press, 2026), which she edited and translated. Her translations include numerous books by Hispanic authors such as Alberto Blanco and Minerva Margarita Villarreal. Rathbun is Professor of Spanish at Ball State University and earned her PhD in Spanish from the University of Arizona.
Notable Awards
Dr. Rathbun was awarded the 2021 Ambroggio Prize granted by the Academy of American Poets with Colombian author Carlos Aguasaco for her translation of his poetry book Cardinal in my Window with a Mask on its Beak (U of Arizona Press 2022).
Notable Publications
Poetry:
Amherst Suite: Emiliy Dickinson in Spanish Translation and Poetic Transcreation. By Alberto Blanco. MA: Amherst College Press. 2026. Print and Open Access OER.
Precipicio / Precipice, Honduras: UP National Autonomous University of Honduras, 2023.
El libro de traiciones / The Book of Betrayals, New York: Artepoética Press, 2021.
Translations:
Hojas de Papel Volando / Paper Leaves in the Wind by Patricia Ariza. Bogota and New York: Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Artepoética Press. 2023.
Giros de faros / Circling Beacons by Alberto Blanco. Toronto: Guernica Editions. 2022.
Blue Window / Ventana Azul by Indran Amirthanayagam. New Orleans: Díalogos, 2021.
Beloved / Adamar by Minerva Margarita Villarreal. New York: Arte Poética Press, 2020.
Afterglow / Tras el rayo by Alberto Blanco. New York: The Bitter Oleander Press, 2011.