This special issue of the Journal of Romance Studies celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Women in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies (WiSPS), highlighting the organisation’s longstanding commitment to feminist scholarship, collaboration and the promotion of women’s voices across Latin American, Lusophone and Spanish cultures.

Founded in 2000, WiSPS emerged as an inclusive academic network dedicated to supporting women scholars and challenging their underrepresentation within traditional British Hispanism. The publication reflects on the organisation’s history, its contribution to women’s and gender studies, and its role in fostering interdisciplinary research and intellectual exchange.

Bringing together diverse scholarly perspectives, the special issue explores questions of gender, identity, cultural representation, memory and empowerment through literature, visual culture and artistic expression. Its contributions examine how women’s experiences and creative practices challenge dominant narratives, confront structures of inequality and create opportunities for alternative forms of cultural expression.

Through its engagement with feminist approaches to Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies, the publication emphasises the continuing importance of amplifying marginalised voices, questioning established academic traditions and promoting more inclusive understandings of culture, history and society.