Xochitl Gonzalez on Radical Fiction Packaged as a Trojan Horse

Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the writing life. Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), each theme-focused episode of Write-minded features an interview with a writer, author, or publishing industry professional.

Olga Dies Dreaming is guest Xochitl Gonzalez’s new novel—and how you interpret it might tell you something about your political persuasion. This week we are exploring what it means to be radical in fiction—especially when what you’re trying to be radical about is packaged as a fast-paced story. This is the subversive (meant in the best sense of the word) nature of fiction with a cause—which we explore this week in all its nuanced glory. Adelante!

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Xochitl Gonzalez has an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow and recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Prize in Fiction. Her work has been published in Bustle, Vogue, and The Cut, and she’s a contributor to The Atlantic, where her weekly newsletter “Brooklyn, Everywhere” explores gentrification of people and places. Her New York Times bestselling debut novel is Olga Dies Dreaming published earlier this year. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, she received her B.A. in Fine Art from Brown University.