IGLS Foundation
The IGLS Foundation exists to support public scholarship, education, and community outreach within the Gothic humanities. Created as the charitable and educational arm of the International Gothic Literature Society, the Foundation provides opportunities for scholars, teachers, and creators who bring Gothic literature beyond academic spaces and into the wider world. Through initiatives such as the Kristin Gonzales Memorial Award for Public Gothic Scholarship, the IGLS Foundation is committed to honoring legacy, uplifting emerging voices, and expanding access to the transformative power of the Gothic.
Programs of the IGLS Foundation
The Kristin Gonzales Memorial Award for Public Gothic Scholarship
This annual award honors excellence in public Gothic scholarship—supporting educators, creators, and scholars who bring Gothic literature, themes, and ideas beyond academic circles and into the wider world. The recipient receives a $200 stipend and recognition for meaningful public-facing work.
The Kristen Gonzales Memorial Award
Recognizing Excellence in Public Gothic Scholarship
Kristin Gonzales was an accomplished educator, union leader, and studio teacher whose career reflected a lifelong commitment to service, advocacy, and accessible learning. She earned multiple degrees from New Mexico Highlands University — including a Bachelor’s Degree in General Education, a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education, and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction — and spent years supporting students from Pre-K through 12th grade with compassion, structure, and integrity. In the film industry, she continued this dedication as a studio teacher and welfare worker, ensuring that young performers were guided, protected, and given the tools they needed to thrive.
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Her professional life was rooted in equity, empowerment, and the belief that education should be accessible to all, values she championed through her work with IATSE Local 480, where she advocated for transparent leadership and strong community support. These same values naturally aligned with her love of literature and her participation in the early Quarantined Gothic Literature Society, a small but meaningful circle formed during the pandemic. In those uncertain months, Kristin brought warmth, insight, and generosity to the group — helping build a space where people could gather, learn, and connect through the Gothic. She understood that stories, especially Gothic stories, can foster resilience, spark empathy, and offer refuge in difficult times.
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Kristin’s presence in those early meetings helped shape the ethos that would later define the International Gothic Literature Society (IGLS): community over exclusivity, accessibility over gatekeeping, and shared learning over hierarchy. She believed in meeting people where they were — in classrooms, on sets, online, or across community spaces — and she approached literature with the same spirit of openness.
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The Kristin Gonzales Memorial Award for Public Gothic Scholarship honors this legacy. Named with the blessing of her family, the award supports scholars and creators who bring Gothic ideas, history, and literature into the public sphere. It recognizes work that reflects Kristin’s own values: compassion, clarity, courage, and a belief that knowledge — including the Gothic — should be shared widely, generously, and with heart.
