Xochitl Gonzalez isn’t just a writer — she’s a force of nature in the literary world. Raised in the vibrant streets of Brooklyn, New York, Xochitl channels her heritage, passion, and lived experiences into every word she writes. With her debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming, becoming an instant New York Times bestseller in 2022, and her latest work, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, earning a coveted spot as a Reese’s Book Club Pick in 2024, Xochitl has cemented herself as a powerful voice in contemporary literature. Her writing is a powerful exploration of cultural identity, societal issues, and the vibrant realities of the Latinx community.
In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, we connected with Xochitl to get her perspective on the significance of representation in literature, her creative process, and her invaluable advice for aspiring Latinx writers looking to follow in her footsteps.
As we celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, what message do you wish to share with young Latinx writers who are just beginning their journey?
I believe that even when life stops us from physically typing, we can be writing our novels in our minds, so don’t let the frustration of the former stop you from working on the latter. Start by changing the one thing, that one “bad” habit, that might be stealing your attention and time, to the detriment of a great habit like writing.
In your opinion, why is authentic Latinx representation important in literature today, and how do you approach this in your own work?
Well at its most basic, we are almost 20% of America; so if one believes that American Literature gives us a better understanding of who we are as a nation (and I believe this) then our representation is critical. Some of our American journeys might have begun with us, some maybe generations into being part of the fiber of this country. I write for the multifaceted Latinas and working women who have always been hustling in this country. We are an intrinsic political, economical, and social group that has long existed and enriched the culture of the world. So, how does that truth look like in relationships? At work and outside of it? In New York or in another country? I believe this is an urgent and ever-expansive project that has been unexplored and flattened for far too long.
Could you share the challenges and triumphs you've experienced in bringing Latinx stories and characters to a wider audience?
Wow—too many to count! A huge triumph has been, of course, the publication of my two novels with the tremendous support of my publisher and team, as well as the incredible engagement and emotional reception from readers. So many of us have never read or seen our complicated, sometimes joyous reality in mainstream media. It’s been an uphill battle trying to bring our stories to the screen, however. The authenticity you can get away with in a novel is oftentimes not what Hollywood is looking to vouch for. I think our diversity—racial, cultural—is very challenging for some people to wrap their heads around. And so we often are only allowed to tell immigration stories, when in reality, many of us are second, or third generation in this country and have other day-to-day concerns.
Your stories often weave together complex themes such as identity, family, and social justice. Can you discuss your process for exploring these themes through your narrative?
I need to create characters that feel vivid and alive in order to explore such themes, not the other way around, which can just become polemic. An author can’t be afraid of their characters' ugly truths and deepest shames, because only through being compressed into facing them, as Toni Morrison so wisely said, can these complex themes honestly be dissected in relation to each other, to the characters, to the world created in the narrative and to our own world.
How do you hope your works contribute to the broader conversation about Latinx culture and identity?
At its most simple, I hope that any commercial viability my work has helps open the doors of other Latinx writers with different experiences and with origins from different nations than me—because only in this way will we be able to assert our own definitions for ourselves. And I hope that for the non-Latinx readers out there, who relate to the dramas and emotional conflicts that my characters face—that this can help begin an un-othering of Latinidad for the average American. There’s a perpetual “foreignness” applied to us and our stories that I think keeps us on the margins of policy and cultural conversations at large. I hope that the reach of my work—Olga being taught in schools, or Anita being a Reese pick—helps to weave these heroines into the collective consciousness of “American literary characters,” while allowing them to be fully Latinx.
Could you share a piece of wisdom or a mantra that has guided you through your writing career?
“Difficult takes a day. Impossible takes a week.” Everything is basically do-able if you focus on it.
If you could have dinner with three figures from Latinx history or culture, who would they be and why?
Freddie Prinze (the father of Freddie Prinze Jr.), who was one of the biggest stars of Prime Time television in the 70s. I’m more than a little obsessed with the story of his life, cut short much too early. Dolores Huerta, to thank her for her work and also talk about her experiences as an activist/mother. And to be honest, Angie Martinez—Latinos had such a role in the development of Hip Hop and Hip Hop culture, and she had a front seat for so much of it but has also grown up with it.
It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are boldfaced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s power brokers.
Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1 percent but she can’t seem to find her own. . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.
Olga and Prieto’s mother, Blanca, a Young Lord turned radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.
Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Xochitl Gonzalez’s Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream—all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.
1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name has been all but forgotten—certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret.
But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist.
Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.