Eshleman's experiences walking through the slums of Lima awakened his political conscience. At this time he was also hired by the North American Peruvian Institute to edit a bilingual literary magazine, funded by the Institute. He gave the collection the title Quena (in reference to a Quechuan flute). Writers and intellectuals in Lima assumed the magazine was cover for United States government espionage work. The magazine was suppressed by the Institute for political reasons prior to the publication of its first issue.