Contemporary Authors

Daniel Olivas
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Daniel Olivas
Daniel Olivas - Headshot.jpg
Born Daniel Anthony Olivas
April 8, 1959 (age 59)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Author of fiction, poetry, non-fiction; Attorney
Nationality USA
Alma mater Stanford University, BA in English literature (1981); University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, JD (1984)
Website
www.danielolivas.com
Daniel Olivas (born April 8, 1959 in Los Angeles, California) is a United States author and attorney.

Biography
Daniel Olivas was raised near downtown Los Angeles, the middle of five children and the grandson of Mexican immigrants. He attended St. Thomas the Apostle grammar school, and then Loyola High School. Olivas received his BA in English literature from Stanford University and law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.

As a law student at UCLA, Olivas was elected co-chair of La Raza Law Students Association (1982–1983), and served as editor-in-chief of the Chicano Law Review (1983–1984). He met a fellow law student, Susan Formaker, during their first year at UCLA. They married in 1986 in a Jewish ceremony at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles. In 1988, Olivas converted to Judaism within the Reform tradition. They settled in the San Fernando Valley and had their only child, Benjamin, in 1990. In 2017, after their son graduated from college and moved out, they left the Valley and moved closer to downtown Los Angeles.

Olivas has practiced law with the California Department of Justice as a deputy and supervising deputy attorney general, and currently as a senior assistant attorney general, since 1990. Prior to 1990, he was in private practice with the now-defunct Heller Ehrman LLP. His wife is an administrative law judge. Their son received his bachelor's degree in Anthropology at UCLA.

Writing life
Before becoming a fiction writer, Olivas authored numerous legal articles, essays and book reviews for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He started writing fiction in 1998 with the publication of his first short story in the literary journal, RiversEdge published by the University of Texas-Pan American.

First book
His first book was a novella, The Courtship of María Rivera Peña, which was published by a small and now-defunct Pennsylvania-based press, Silver Lake Publishing (not to be confused with the Los Angeles-based publisher of the same name), in 2000 and is now out of print. The novella is loosely based on Olivas's paternal grandparents' migration from Mexico to Los Angeles in the 1920s. The book received modest response and mixed praise including a review in the online journal, Critique Magazine, where book critic Christina Gosnell noted: "This novel is invaluable in its own right. Mr. Olivas is a writer who believed in it enough to tell it, and many readers can be enriched by his noble effort. But Mr. Olivas inadvertently starched the edges of this story, stiffening the softness of a passion obviously true, and consequently obscured the brilliance of all love stories: the love." Yet, critic Chris Mansel, writing for The Muse Apprentice Guild, sang the novella's praises: "What a loving and sweet study is The Courtship of María Rivera Peña. Every page you can imagine on the screen, lit beautifully and acted as well as the story was written. Daniel A. Olivas writes with the confidence and grace of a village storyteller entrusted to keep the stories alive. We are taken step by step through the history of a marriage, a relationship and a way living unknown to most. This is a story that deserves your attention."

Short-story collections
Three short-story collections followed in quick succession, each published by Bilingual Press, an award-winning publisher affiliated with Arizona State University. These story collections established Olivas's reputation as a fiction writer.

The first of the collections, Assumption and Other Stories (2003), received praise including in a Los Angeles Times review by James Sallis who noted: "Olivas is adept at establishing character in a sentence or two; he creates an image, a moment of self-deception, in which we come to know these characters intimately and easily imagine their entire lives...." The Midwest Book Review observed that Olivas has been recognized as "one of the best and most original Hispanic American authors working today."

The second collection, Devil Talk: Stories (2004), is marked by Olivas's inclusion of stories steeped in the literary genre of magical realism. Author and book critic, Rigoberto González, writing for the El Paso Times, stated: "The pleasure of Devil Talk is that no story repeats its surprise element, so there's no guessing what happens next." The Midwest Review noted that Olivas "presents his wickedest work in these eerie tales that walk the line of darkness, from a botched robbery with deadly consequences on the same day that JFK is buried to a young man's preternatural ability to see exactly what his girlfriend is doing when he is away. An enthralling collection; the stories are so tantalizing that they are best devoured all at once."

His third collection, Anywhere But L.A.: Stories (2009), was also well received by the critics. For example, writing for the online journal, The Rumpus, critic Vinoad Senguttuvan observed: "As Olivas's displaced characters drift, their perceptions become hazy. Yet what brings them together, what gives their world clarity, is art. Art as in paintings and literature, as well as in food, drinks, and music. Dishes full of flavor, Mexican spices and smells, stand vivid in the center of the gatherings. When exiles dream of other places, those places are filled with company and art. This focus on gatherings as a place for characters to find the community they’ve lost, is one of Olivas's most powerful themes." Acclaimed author, Daniel Alarcón, offered this assessment of Olivas's third collection in a back cover blurb: "Like the cities they describe, the stories in Anywhere But L.A. shift and slide and refuse to be pinned down. Daniel Olivas is an exciting writer, whose prose rings with humor, insight, and power."

In September 2017, Olivas published another collection, The King of Lighting Fixtures (University of Arizona Press). Early reviews have been strong. For example, Kirkus Reviews called the collection, "[a]ssured and perceptive, offering a view of another Southland from Chandler’s and Didion’s." And Foreword Reviews observed that Olivas's "bold insistence on leaving a few seams visible, a few threads frayed—even on pulling the rug away entirely—makes the book resound as a fascinating exploration of both the art of storytelling and the ways in which fiction echoes the messiness of life." Writing for Shelf Awareness, Bruce Jacobs asserted: "The collection cements his place in the magical realism tradition of García Márquez and Urrea, and showcases his skills as a master stylist and self-aware observer of life's little vignettes."

First novel
In 2011, the University of Arizona Press published Olivas's first novel, The Book of Want, which received universal praise. The novel is written in the magical realist tradition but also includes postmodern elements such as sections where characters are interviewed about being in the novel itself, text messages, and a short play. Each chapter is inspired by one of the Ten Commandments; the novel begins with a prologue and ends in an epilogue. In response to the novel, the High Country News observed: "Olivas is emerging as an important voice in the social and magical realist tradition of Luis Alberto Urrea, Gabriel García Márquez and Sandra Cisneros." In a Los Angeles Magazine review, Wendy Witherspoon stated: "Olivas's brand of magical realism has a sense of humor about itself, and he succeeds in harnessing the genre’s unique ability to expose what’s beneath the surface."

Based on this novel, Olivas's role as a magical realist is discussed and analyzed in The Routledge Companion to Latino/a Literature (Routledge, 2012) edited by Suzanne Bost and Frances R. Aparicio. The novel won several literary awards and was a semifinalist for the 2012 Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell First Novelist Award. In a review published in ForeWord Magazine, Janelle Adsit acknowledged the novel's blend of realism and magic as well as its place within the canon of Latino literature: "It's a work of realism...but not without a dose of the magic—linking it with important works of Latino literature. The Book of Want is one such important work."

Children's picture book
Between 2003 and 2010, the Los Angeles Times published six of Olivas's children's stories. One of those stories, "Benjamin and the Word," was eventually republished by Arte Público Press in 2005 as a bilingual picture book. The story revolves around a boy named Benjamin who is Chicano and Jewish and who suffers bigoted taunts on the schoolyard. The book received praise including from Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, who stated: "In the pressure-cooker of elementary school, where high stakes testing is winning out over funding for anti-bias education, Olivas helps us understand the effect name-calling has on young people and how parents can effectively talk to their children about hate." And Kirkus Reviews observed: "A quiet look at prejudice, forgiveness and friendship."

Work as editor
Olivas edited Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature (Bilingual Press, 2008), where he brought together sixty years of Los Angeles fiction by Latino writers. The volume collected not only some of the best-known Latino writers such as Luis Alberto Urrea, Helena María Viramontes, Luis Rodriguez, Kathleen Alcalá and John Rechy, it also introduced writers at the beginning of their careers such as Melinda Palacio, Manuel Muñoz, Salvador Plascencia and Reyna Grande. The anthology was well received by the critics. For example, Gregg Barrios, writing for the San Antonio Express-News, observed: "Long overdue, Latinos in Lotusland is a literary GPS guide to El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles, aka the city of Angeles as seen through Latino—mostly Mexican American and Chicano—writing.... And, oh, the places they will take you." In a review published in the El Paso Times, Sergio Troncoso observed: "The panoply of characters includes pachucos, people of paper, lonely strangers, small-time journalists solving mysteries, and concrete finishers proving themselves with guts and guile in the world of work."

In 2016, Tía Chucha Press released The Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes and Shifts of Los Angeles which Olivas co-edited with Neelanjana Banerjee and Ruben J. Rodriguez. The anthology includes a wide range of poetry by new, mid-career, and acclaimed writers such as Dana Gioia, Ruben Martinez, Wanda Coleman, Holly Prado, and many others. Of the anthology, Professor Frederick Luis Aldama of The Ohio State University said: “The dexterous hands of this high-octane trio of editors pull together in one exquisite volume LA's finest of polymorphous polyglot poetic voices.”

First nonfiction book
On June 1, 2014, San Diego State University Press published Olivas's first nonfiction book, Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature through Essays and Interviews. The volume brings together a decade’s worth of essays that have appeared in The New York Times, La Bloga, Jewish Journal, California Lawyer, and other publications, that address a broad spectrum of topics from the Mexican-American experience to the Holocaust. The book also includes 28 interviews that Olivas conducted over the years with well-established and emerging Latino/a writers including Daniel Alarcón, Gustavo Arellano, Richard Blanco, Sandra Cisneros, Héctor Tobar, Luis Alberto Urrea, Justin Torres, Reyna Grande, and Helena María Viramontes.

Early reviews were positive. For example, the Los Angeles Review of Books observed: "Many of the subjects that Olivas addresses in this book are important to current conversations about Latino literature, especially among students and writers. And not just Latinos — conversations about using multiple languages and Latino literary traditions like magical realism require more sophistication. Olivas's Things We Do Not Talk About can be a useful tool to incite any reader into deeper thought not only about these subjects, but also about questions of authority and responsibility. These can be complicated topics, but Olivas leaves plenty of room for your own nuanced answers."

And writing for The Latino Author, Corina Martinez Chaudhry said: "The author does a grand job of showing that Latinos, although having a commonality of Spanish in most instances, are citizens that come from all walks of life and struggle to attain the American dream just like everyone else. And this is why his essays are powerful and insightful and why the title Things We Do Not Talk About fits perfectly."

Poetry
In November 2017, Olivas published his first book of poems, Crossing the Border: Collected Poems (Pact Press). Of this collection, Rigoberto González said: “The poetry of Daniel Olivas rings distinctly wise, sensitive, and true. All are welcomed here, from the woman writing to her lover in prison, to the victims of a tragic flood. Cross over and listen to those who suffer and survive, and to those who protest and persevere—each of them ‘speaking their own special language.’” Similarly, the poet Patty Seyburn observed: “Daniel Olivas’s poems are necessary things: they tell stories that need to be told, render scenes that need to be seen, isolate moments that need to be examined in all their beauty and suffering. Actor and victim, witness and innocent, all are represented in Olivas’s powerful first collection, engaging the reader in the act of crossing over via the tools that language possesses when in skillful hands.”

Other writing and activities
Olivas's fiction, poetry, essays, author interviews, and book reviews have appeared in many publications including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Jewish Journal, The MacGuffin, Exquisite Corpse, High Country News, California Lawyer, PANK, and El Paso Times.

Olivas is a contributing writer to more than a dozen anthologies including Fantasmas: Supernatural Stories by Mexican American Writers, edited by Rob Johnson (Bilingual Press, 2001), Love to Mamá: A Tribute to Mothers, edited by Pat Mora (Lee & Low Books, 2001), Sudden Fiction Latino: Short-Short Stories from the United States and Latin America, edited by Robert Shapard, James Thomas and Ray Gonzalez (W. W. Norton, 2010), and New California Writing 2012 (Heyday Books, 2012), edited by Gayle Wattawa.

Olivas is featured in Spilling the Beans in Chicanolandia: Conversations with Writers and Artists (University of Texas Press, 2006) edited by Frederick Luis Aldama. Olivas was a member of Con Tinta and shares blogging duties on La Bloga.

Olivas is part of a tradition of Latino attorneys who have also become established as creative writers. This tradition includes Martín Espada, Yxta Maya Murray, Manuel Ramos, and Michael Nava.

Bibliography
Books
The King of Lighting Fixtures: Stories (University of Arizona Press, 2017)
Crossing the Border: Collected Poems (Pact Press, 2017)
Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature through Essays and Interviews (San Diego State University Press, 2014)
The Book of Want: A Novel (University of Arizona Press, 2011)
Anywhere But L.A.: Stories (Bilingual Press, 2009)
Latinos in Lotusland (Bilingual Press, 2008)
Devil Talk: Stories (Bilingual Press, 2004)
Assumption and Other Stories (Bilingual Press, 2003)
The Courtship of María Rivera Peña (Silver Lake Publishing, 2000)
Children's picture book
Benjamin and the Word / Benjamin y la palabra (Arte Público Press, 2005)
Anthologies (contributing author)
Speak & Speak Again (Pact Press, 2017)
LA Fiction Anthology: Southland Stories by Southland Writers (Red Hen Press, 2016)
Feast: Poetry and Recipes for a Full Seating at Dinner (Black Lawrence Press, 2015)
New California Writing 2012 (Heyday Books, 2012)
You Don't Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens (Arte Público Press, 2011)
Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer (W. W. Norton, 2010)
Sudden Fiction Latino: Short-Short Stories from the United States and Latin America (W. W. Norton, 2010)
Mamas and Papas: On the Sublime and Heartbreaking Art of Parenting (City Works Press, 2010)
A Poet’s Haggadah: Passover Through the Eyes of Poets (CreateSpace, 2008)
Social Issues Firsthand: Hate Crimes (Thomson/Greenhaven, 2007)
You Have Time for This: Contemporary American Short-Short Stories (Ooligan Press, 2007)
Love to Mamá: A Tribute to Mothers (Lee & Low Books, 2001)
Fantasmas: Supernatural Stories by Mexican American Writers (Bilingual Press, 2000)
Nemeton: A Fables Anthology (Silver Lake Publishing, 2000)
Anthologies (editor)
Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature (Bilingual Press, 2008)
The Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes and Shifts of Los Angeles (Tia Chucha Press, 2016), co-editor
Awards and honors
Honorable Mention, Best Latino Focused Nonfiction Book, for Things We Do Not Talk About (San Diego State University Press, 2014), International Latino Book Awards (2015).
Pushcart Prize nomination by Codex Journal for "Pluck" (2013).
First Place, Romantic Comedy, The Book of Want: A Novel (University of Arizona Press, 2011), Latino Books into Movies contest sponsored by Latino Literacy Now and the Latino Book & Family Festival, awarded at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (April 21, 2012).
Silver Medal, Multicultural Adult Fiction, The Book of Want: A Novel (University of Arizona Press, 2011), 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Semifinalist, The Book of Want: A Novel (University of Arizona Press, 2011), 2012 Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell First Novelist Award.
Finalist, Best Popular Fiction - English, for The Book of Want: A Novel (University of Arizona Press, 2011), International Latino Book Awards (2012).
Pushcart Prize nomination by University of Arizona Press for "How to Date a Flying Mexican" from the novel, The Book of Want (2011).
Pushcart Prize nomination by Tertulia Magazine for "El Cucuy" (2009).
Named one of the Top Ten Latino Authors to Watch for 2007 by LatinoStories.
Co-Winner, First Place (Prose Category), “A Picture Worth 500 Words Contest” for short story, "Painting," sponsored by the literary journal, Tattoo Highway (2003).
Honorable Mention, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (St. Martin’s Press, 2003), for short story "Tezcatlipoca’s Glory."
Honorable Mention, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (St. Martin’s Press, 2002), for short story "Devil Talk."
Finalist, Willa Cather Fiction Contest sponsored by Helicon Nine Editions (2000), for Assumption and Other Stories (subsequently published by Bilingual Press, 2003).
Honorable Mention, Eternity Best of the Web Awards (2000), for short story "The Horned Toad."

Daniel A. Olivas (www.danielolivas.com) is the author of nine books and editor of two anthologies. His books include "The King of Lighting Fixtures: Stories" (University of Arizona Press, 2017), "Crossing the Border: Collected Poems" (Pact Press, 2017), and "Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature Through Essays and Interviews" (San Diego State University Press, 2014). Olivas is also the editor of the landmark "Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature" (Bilingual Press, 2008), which brings together 60 years of Los Angeles fiction by Latino writers.

Olivas has written for many publications including The New York Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, El Paso Times, California Lawyer, and Jewish Journal.

His writing is featured in many anthologies including "Sudden Fiction Latino" (W. W. Norton, 2010), "Hint Fiction" (W. W. Norton, 2010), and "Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers" (Lee & Low Books, 2001). He shares blogging duties on La Bloga (http://labloga.blogspot.com) which is dedicated to Chicano/a and Latino/a literature.

Olivas received his degree in English literature from Stanford University, and law degree from UCLA. By day, he is an attorney and makes his home in Los Angeles with his wife. They have an adult son who also lives in Los Angeles. Twitter: @olivasdan.

Daniel Olivas, a second-generation Angeleno, is the author of nine books including, most recently, The King of Lighting Fixtures: Stories (University of Arizona Press), and Crossing the Border: Collected Poems (Pact Press). He is the editor of the anthology Latinos in Lotusland (Bilingual Press), and co-editor of The Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes and Shifts of Los Angeles (Tía Chucha Press). Widely anthologized, he has also written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, El Paso Times, Jewish Journal, La Bloga, and many other print and online publications. By day, Olivas is a supervising deputy attorney general in the Public Rights Division of the California Department of Justice. He and his wife make their home in Los Angeles, and they have an adult son.

Daniel A. Olivas on his short story collection 'The King of Lighting Fixtures' and more
Agatha French
By AGATHA FRENCH
OCT 18, 2017 | 11:00 AM

Daniel A. Olivas on his short story collection 'The King of Lighting Fixtures' and more
Daniel A. Olivas' new collection of short stories is "The King of Lighting Fixtures." ((Susan L. Formaker / University of Arizona Press))

Daniel A. Olivas’ latest collection of short stories, “The King of Lighting Fixtures,” (University of Arizona Press, $16.95) opens with a character settling into his office at the Public Rights Division of the California Department of Justice. It’s a detail from which readers can expect a certain level of authenticity: Olivas, in addition to being the author of nine books, is an attorney there. (Public access to Malibu’s Carbon Beach? Olivas is, in part, to thank.)

“The King of Lighting Fixtures,” includes flash fiction, speculative fiction, magical realism and more traditional stories; what unites the work is a sense of place. Olivas is an L.A. writer, and he roots his work in L.A.

I spoke to Olivas over the phone about straddling two professions; being a longtime contributor to La Bloga, a website that showcases Latina/Latino literature and culture; and writing the final, dystopian story of his book. Our conversation has been edited.

The collection includes a piece of speculative fiction called “The Great Wall,” in which an ornate, gold-painted wall along the Mexican border is erected. Can you tell me about writing this story?
The book had already been completed when the election happened. I felt like I had to write one more story that addressed President Trump and his desire to build the great wall. I decided to write a story set in the dystopian future. I wanted focus on the human suffering that would occur — and that, frankly, I think we see occurring right now — when families are torn apart. I’m on the board of Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural [founded by former L.A. poet laureate Luis J. Rodriguez], and there’re some kids who work with us who are in college and who are in danger, or their parents are in danger. This is very personal. These are people’s lives.

I saw a news story that was chilling to me, where different companies had been bidding to get contracts to build the wall. One contractor was showing how beautiful his walls were — he was showing samples that had little bits of glass and little swirls. He was very proud of his craftsmanship, completely not acknowledging that this beautiful wall was going to separate families.

In the title story, “The King of Lighting Fixtures,” an L.A. Times reporter misquotes the protagonist as saying, “All it takes is a little hard work and a lot of luck,” to build an empire ,when he actually said, “All it takes is a lot of hard work and a little luck.” To set the record straight, what does it take to make it as a writer, hard work or luck?
Ha! I think it’s 50/50. Getting the attention of someone who has the power to get your book published, in some ways that’s the luck part. But writing does take work. So, 50/50.

You received your undergraduate degree in English literature at Stanford, went to law school at UCLA and began your writing career at age 39. Was your path to becoming a writer a circuitous journey?
In many ways my path to becoming a writer was not circuitous. My parents always had books in the house, and we used our library cards when money was tight. They made certain we got to read. I was always writing stories and was very involved with student publications growing up. When I went to Stanford I was art director of the Stanford Chaparral; my editor was Bruce Handy, who is now one of the editors of Vanity Fair. When I was in law school I was editor of the Chicano Law Review of UCLA, and when I became a lawyer I wrote legal articles on land use and civil procedure. So I was always writing, but I intentionally did not take creative writing at Stanford, because coming from where I was coming from economically, I did not view becoming a creative writer to be the smartest thing to do.

Does your legal writing feed your fiction?
Legal writing is really telling a story. People who aren’t successful lawyers are people who don’t realize that their audience is made up of people. A good lawyer knows how to write a brief or a memo that explains why justice should be done. The writing should be interesting. It should tell a story that explains the human side of the legal issues.

Being a lawyer and writing briefs under deadline, as well as having to be succinct and tell a good story and not be afraid to edit, those are things I learned as a lawyer, which transferred perfectly to my fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Beachgoers get to Carbon Beach in Malibu through a public accessway alongside David Geffen's former home.
Beachgoers get to Carbon Beach in Malibu through a public accessway alongside David Geffen's former home. (Christina House / For The Times)
“Carbon Beach,” a noir story, is set in Malibu on a stretch of waterfront that was central to one of your cases, which involved public access to the beach outside of David Geffen’s house. How did you approach exploring this setting in your fictional work?
I try not to write about the cases I’ve done, and the story “Carbon Beach” doesn’t deal with the litigation, it’s simply set in an area that I know. I did represent the California Coastal Commission in the litigation against David Geffen, who fought against the opening of the accessway that runs along his house at Carbon Beach. We prevailed, and we ended up with a wonderful settlement that opened up that accessway. If you go there now, you’ll see all kinds of people of all different backgrounds of all different colors enjoying that beautiful beach.

Certainly, I’m not disparaging Mr. Geffen [who sold the property earlier this year] in any way in the story. Places I’ve been will often become the setting for my stories. My main character in “Carbon Beach” is a young Chicano kid, and he’s visiting a part of L.A. — Malibu — that is considered the playground of movie executives and musicians and movie stars. In some ways, I wanted to express that L.A. belongs to all of us.

A number of your characters have legal jobs. In what other ways did you draw from experience?
This is the first collection where I have several stories where the main characters are writers. I realized in pulling this book together that I’m also touching upon the publishing industry and the way that writers of color are treated, and what we’re expected to create. These are issues I’ve been grappling with the longer I write and the longer I cover other Latino and Latina writers. I am fascinated by the fact that we are creating, as a group of writers of color, a huge amount of wonderful work, and we’re beginning to get more and more coverage, but it is a battle, and that’s something that just came through in some of these stories.

My very first short story collection, “Assumption and Other Stories,” which was eventually published by Bilingual Press, I submitted that to several large publishers and a couple agents. I was told once by an agent and once by an editor at a large press, which shall remain nameless, that I was a very good writer, but why couldn’t I write basically a Chicano version of “Waiting to Exhale”?

What is the history and mission of La Bloga?
La Bloga was started over 10 years ago by writers who wanted to get more coverage for Latino and Latina writers. It’s now grown; I think we’re over a dozen writers at different stages of our creative writing endeavors. La Bloga has all kinds of different coverage: interviews, book reviews, politics, food and arts. It’s filled with writing from people who span this country, from East Coast to West Coast and everything in between, and it’s been a wonderfully supportive, loving literary family. The internet has created so many amazing outlets and opportunities for writers of color, and La Bloga is simply one example of that type of forum.

Is the visibility of the local Latino literary community also evolving?
The internet and Twitter have helped writers connect with each other — we’re such a huge city — and we are a louder voice and there are more places for us to express ourselves. The fact that the Festival of Books has moved to USC, the old stomping grounds of my grandmother, that whole area near USC is predominately immigrant, working class, and now we have the Festival of Books held there, and I think that’s wonderful. In terms of evolution, I see more coverage, I see places like Other Books open up, I see Avenue 50 Studio, Tia Chucha’s. … There is an effort to bring diverse voices to the reading public. I think there has been an evolution, but I’d like to see more. I’m 58. I hope to be on this Earth for another 20 to 25 years, and hopefully I’ll see even more acceptance of the diverse voices out there.

Other Books in Boyle Heights
Other Books in Boyle Heights (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
With a steady law practice, when do you find the time for your creative work?
I’m not very mechanical about it; for me creative writing is pure pleasure. I don’t fully understand writers who say, “Oh my God, editing and writing is just so horrible.” I don’t know why they write if that’s how they feel. For me it’s a joyous way to spend time. I imagine it’s similar to, say, someone who dances. It might be difficult in terms of the time you put into practice to dance, but in actually doing the dance there is great joy in that expression.

Daniel A. Olivas
This week, TheLatinoAuthor.com is featuring Daniel A. Olivas. Mr. Olivas is a multifaceted writer and a supervising attorney in the Consumer Law Section. He currently resides in the San Fernando Valley and is a graduate of Stanford University (English literature major) and UCLA (Law degree). Read our interview and see what compelled him to become a writer.

Daniel-A-Olivas2 Latinos-in-Lotusland daniel olivas

Can you tell us about yourself; where you grew up, where you currently reside, etc.?

I am the grandson of Mexican immigrants, the middle of five children, and grew up a few miles west of downtown Los Angeles, in an area once commonly known as Pico Heights. It’s near the better known communities of Koreatown and Pico-Union. It was a predominantly Mexican-American community when I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. I attended twelve years of Catholic school: St. Thomas the Apostle School (which included grades one through eight at that time), and then Loyola High School, both of which were a couple blocks from my home. My parents worked so hard to send us to these schools, and to this day, I give them great credit for putting our education first even when times were hard. Ironically, I eventually converted to Judaism, but that does not diminish the remarkable education I received. I now live with my wife and son in the San Fernando Valley. Our son, Ben, is now a junior majoring in anthropology at UCLA and lives in the dorms, so we’re sort of empty nesters (or getting there fast).

What inspired you to begin writing – your English Literature Degree or your Law Degree, or did you always have an inkling to write?

My parents always made certain we had access to books. My fondest memories are of our family visits to the library where we could check out armloads of books. I loved the look, feel and smell of books! I remember wanting to be a writer when I started to learn how to read. In fact, I wrote little books that I also illustrated. The plots weren’t complex (a ghost scaring a boy, etc.). Certainly majoring in English at Stanford University and then attending UCLA School of Law contributed to my need to tell stories, but it all started with my parents’ desire to make reading a natural and essential part of their children’s lives.

Do you find that being a Latino writer is a hindrance or a plus? Please elaborate.

I find that <> that I have to go with “plus.” What more can I say?

From a publishing and marketing perspective, what challenges have you faced?

Unfortunately, as larger presses get more concerned about the bottom line, there seems to be less “risk taking” with manuscripts that are not easily marketable. Many of my fellow Latino/a writers have had manuscripts rejected by large presses (and agents) with suggestions such as: why don’t you write a Latino version of Waiting to Exhale or Sex in the City? This is why many of us have found welcoming homes with university and other independent presses. Six of my seven books have been published by Bilingual Press (Arizona State University), Arte Público Press (University of Houston), and the University of Arizona Press. All of these presses “get” what I’m doing with my writing…I don’t need to translate my art to them.

What is the impact that you want to make with your writing?

I want readers to feel as though they are in good hands when they enter one of my stories, poems or essays. Everything else is gravy, as they say. I certainly am moved when a young Chicano or Chicana student comes up to me after a book reading and says: I want to write, too. If I’m an inspiration for young, budding writers (especially if they’re Chicano/a), then I’ve done something that was not planned but, nonetheless, has resulted in an important impact.

You have written both poetry and fiction. Which do you prefer and what are the challenges with each of these writing techniques that you can share with our readers?

I’ve written much more fiction than poetry, but I must say that I enjoy both in different ways. With my fiction, I enjoy going on a journey with my characters. In fact, you might say that I become very close to my characters, almost like friends or relatives, even the not-so-nice ones. On the other hand, poetry writing is such a condensed form of expression for me, something that is much more of a personal experience. With poetry, my journey is joyous, painful, and extreme.

What advice can you give to upcoming writers on how to best navigate through the writing business or on writing techniques?

First and foremost, focus on the craft. Don’t fall in love with the idea of being a writer. Do the hard work. Read voraciously all kinds of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Which writers turn you on? Why? What are they doing that grabs you as a reader? Then get your ass in that chair and write, edit, write, edit. If you need to take a class in writing, or join a writers’ workshop, or enter an MFA program, do it. After you’ve actually started to write, you can start taking a look at the many “how to” books on submitting manuscripts. But don’t do too much of that before you’ve actually written a fair amount.

In putting together Latinos in Lotusland, what obstacles did you face and what would you do differently (if anything)?

Putting together an anthology, particularly one as ambitious as this, takes a tremendous amount of energy and time. The call for submissions resulted in a huge number of stories coming in to me. It was almost overwhelming. But having the full support of Bilingual Press was essential to keeping me on track. In the end, we were able to bring together sixty years of Los Angeles fiction by Latino/a writers in one volume (never before done) that includes such veteran writers as Luis Alberto Urrea, John Rechy, Helena María Viramontes, the late Richard Vasquez, and Luis Rodriguez, to name but a few. But we were also able to include many new writers such as Estella González, Michael Jaime-Becerra, Salvador Plascencia, and Reyna Grande. In the end, I wouldn’t change much, though I wish I had included a story by Dagoberto Gilb!

What projects or books are you currently working on that you would like to share with our readers?

I have a poetry collection entitled, Crossing the Border, that was going to be published by an independent press last year, but that press had economic problems and eventually went under. So, it’s making the rounds. I also have a collection of stories, essays and author interviews entitled, Things We Do Not Talk About, which is also out there being considered. I continue to write for La Bloga, and I write essays and book reviews for other publications such as the El Paso Times, from time to time. I wrote an adult picture book, The Last Dream of Pánfilo Velasco, which was inspired by the art of Gronk, and which I have submitted to a publisher for consideration. Gronk’s artwork also adorns the cover of my novel, The Book of Want, which came out last year from the University of Arizona Press and which has (I am happy to say) won two awards and is a finalist for two others. Since I do have a day job as a supervising attorney with the California Department of Justice, I don’t have the time I wish I had to write. But I make do with weekends and little scraps of time here and there. If you are driven to write, you will write, no matter the obstacles.

Visit me at: www.danielolivas.com!

Daniel A. Olivas is the author of nine books and editor of two anthologies. His books include the novel, The Book of Want (University of Arizona Press, 2011), the landmark anthology, Latinos in Lotusland (Bilingual Press, 2008), and Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature through Essays and Interviews (San Diego State University Press, 2014).

His latest books are The King of Lighting Fixtures: Stories (University of Arizona Press, 2017), and Crossing the Border: Collected Poems (Pact Press, 2017).

Widely anthologized, Daniel has written for many publications including The New York Times, El Paso Times, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Huffington Post, High Country News, LAObserved, and Jewish Journal. His writing has appeared many literary journals including PANK, Pilgrimage, Fairy Tale Review, MacGuffin, New Madrid, and The Prairie Schooner Blog. He shares blogging duties on La Bloga which is dedicated to Chicanx and Latinx literature.

Daniel, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, grew up near the Pico-Union and Koreatown neighborhoods of Los Angeles. He now makes his home northeast of downtown Los Angeles with his wife. They have an adult son who is a proud graduate of UCLA. Daniel received his degree in English literature from Stanford University and law degree from UCLA. By day, he is an attorney with the California Department of Justice in the Public Rights Division.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature through Essays and Interviews

Daniel Olivas, a grandson to Mexican immigrants, grew up in Los Angeles. Eventually, he went on to receive a degree in English literature at Stanford University and later, a law degree from UCLA. Now, Daniel works as an attorney with the California Department of Justice in the Public Rights Division. He writes in his free time and, in fact, has published seven books and has contributed to many publications. In his newest venture, Daniel has put together past interviews and personal essays that put forward questions about Chicano identity and explores a writer's writing process and its relationship with the writer's life. A supplement to Latino/a literature, Things We Do Not Talk About, sets out to continue this conversation with other readers and writers whose writing is as interconnected to their lives as Daniel's is. Things We Do Not Talk About will be available May 5th, 2014! The following is a short interview with Daniel Olivas:

Interviewer: Why did you decide to title the book, “Things We Do Not Talk About”? What are some of these things you felt needed to be talked about while going through academia?

Daniel Olivas: The original manuscript that I submitted to SDSU Press not only included essays and interviews but also several short stories including one with that title. Because I liked the title of that short story so much, I decided to make it the title of the book. When I met with Harry Polkinhorn and William Nericcio to discuss my project, they said they liked the manuscript but that the press did not publish fiction. So, I removed the short stories but kept the title because it spoke to an issue—in an ironic manner—that I see with the coverage of Latino/a literature: the mainstream press doesn’t give it enough even as academia has moved towards recognizing such literature in ways that I didn’t see back in college back in the late 1970s. Since several of the interviews have already been relied upon in academic circles (i.e., scholarly books on Latino/a literature, Ph.D. dissertations, etc.), I thought that bringing them together in one volume along with my essays might be useful.

I want to note that the stunning cover art is by Perry Vasquez, a San Diego artist and educator who was a classmate of mine at Stanford and who worked with me when I was the art director of the Chaparral, Stanford’s humor magazine. I think his art conveys the broad spectrum of topics covered by my essays and author interviews.

Interviewer: How was the process in the making of this book different from previous books you’ve published? What sparked the idea of it?

Daniel Olivas: My previous six books were works of fiction so this was a departure for me—I never thought that I’d publish a non-fiction book. Yes, it’s true that I’ve been writing essays and interviewing authors for many years, but I never thought that I’d have so much material for a whole book. And when I learned that my coverage of Latino/a writers was being relied upon by professors and students alike, the idea for this project began to evolve.

Interviewer: In the introduction, you mention a reoccurring question in the background of your essays: what does it mean to be a Chicano writer? Is this a question you continue to ask yourself?

Daniel Olivas: In a sense, yes. I am always delighted when Chicano and Chicana students attend my readings and then come up afterwards to discuss fiction. There is this beautiful connection based on some common cultural touchstones. And I am always thrilled when they say that they are inspired to become writers themselves. Yet, in the back of my mind as I’m having these interactions, I wonder if I have any responsibilities as a Chicano writer. In the end, <> in my fiction, essays and poetry.<< I also have a responsibility to be a mentor>> to those who wish to express themselves through literature and to promote worthwhile books especially those written by Latino/a writers.