Meet our 2026 Graduate fellows
Elton Johnson is a Fulbright scholar and Study of the Americas Initiative Fellow, currently completing his PhD in the Cultures, Languages and Literatures track of the Comparative Studies programme. His research largely focuses on Jamaican music and popular culture as a catalyst for social change. An experienced educator, Elton taught Literatures in English at The University of the West Indies, Mona in Jamaica with specific expertise in teaching Caribbean and American literature, film, creative writing and publishing. He is also a creative writer, with short fiction published in The Write Launch, Nabu Review of The Paragon Press, and The Cropper Foundation / Peekash Press anthology, Writing For Our Lives. He also describes himself as a scholar-advocate with extensive hands-on work experience in advocacy and development communication, specifically in the area of reducing discrimination based on gender identity and sexuality in Jamaica and the US. His academic work has most recently been published in the literary journal, Callaloo.
Anne Molinas is a PhD student in Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University. She holds an MA in Spanish literature and is a translator, writer, teacher and scholar of Latin America literature and culture. She is actively involved in the Studies of the Americas Initiative (SAI), including the organization of the Hemispheric Confluences: Translation Across the Americas symposium sponsored by SAI including her recent SAI Fellowship award. Her interests include 20th century Paraguayan women writers and the sociocultural context in which they were writing. Currently, she is currently translating a Paraguayan novel by Josefina Plá that highlights the experience of women in the aftermath of the War of the Triple Alliance.
Julia Perillo is excited and honored to be an Americas Initiative Graduate Fellow. Born in Miami and raised in Broward County, Julia is of Italian and Ecuadorian descent. She is currently in the second year of her Master's in Teaching Spanish at FAU. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, she teaches two sections of Beginning Spanish. She is the President of FAU's chapter of Sigma Delta Pi and recently co-organized a Spanish Film Club Film Festival with PhD student Anne Molinas. Previously, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in Anthropology and Romance Languages and Literatures. She has also worked with an education nonprofit and volunteers with an organization that advocates for farmworkers' rights. She is passionate about languages and literature and how they can help people tell stories and find strength, beauty, and resilience.
Orianna Soublette is a translator, Masters student in the Comparative Literature program, Graduate Teaching Assistant, and Fellow of the 2026 Study of the Americas Initiative at Florida Atlantic University, where she studies Italian and Spanish literature and teaches Spanish language. She earned two B.A. degrees in Italian Studies and Psychology from Florida Atlantic University, both with m agna cum laude. She has translated works of fiction and poetry from Italian to English and Spanish, including “Proust para bañistas,” a novel by Emanuele Pettener; The Boy and the Islands (A Dream o f Calvino’s), a novel by Marino Magliani which was published by Casa Lago Press in 2025; The Bum in the Bookstore, a short story by Patrizio Zurru which was published by The Ilanot Review in 2023; and “Él,” a poetry collection by Viviana Viviani.