Exploring Identity and Creativity in Latino/a Literature with Daniel A. Olivas

By SAFIYA MOHAMED

SDSU Press

Things We Do Not Talk About by Daniel A. Olivas is a powerful and intimate journey through the landscape of Latino/a literature. Blending insightful interviews and deeply personal essays, Olivas shines a light on the voices shaping contemporary Chicano and Latino storytelling. 

At the core of this collection is Olivas’s fascination with identity, creativity, and cultural expression. He brings together a wide range of Latina and Latino authors—including Aaron A. Abeyta, Daniel Alarcón, Francisco Aragón, Gustavo Arellano, Gregg Barrios, Richard Blanco, Margo Candela, Susana Chávez-Silverman, Sandra Cisneros, Carlos E. Cortés, and many more—to explore how writers navigate the challenges of life, bigotry, writer’s block, and the unpredictable world of publishing.

Through these intimate conversations, Olivas asks the questions many writers quietly grapple with: What does it mean to be a Chicano writer? What do readers expect from me? What do I expect from myself? The result is a collection that not only celebrates literary achievement but also humanizes it, revealing the personal battles and cultural complexities behind the page. 

Daniel A. Olivas: Our Stories Are Important

Daniel A. Olivas—a prolific author, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, and a practicing attorney—brings a rare depth and nuance to this exploration. With 12 books and two anthologies under his belt, his body of work includes My Chicano Heart: New and Collected Stories of Love and Other Transgressions and Chicano Frankenstein: A Novel. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Zócalo, and Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.

“With passion and earnestness Daniel Olivas reveals that the preoccupations of the contemporary Chicana/o writer are vast and complex. Most Chicanas/os and Latinas/os would attest to this, of course, but how often do we see this range in published form? Through personal essays and probing interviews, Olivas tackles not only the craft of writing but also its moral implications. We are lucky to have such a generous author in our midst.”
                —Maceo Montoya,
                 author of The Deportation of Wopper Barraza

Buy From SDSU Press

ISBN-10:193853705X 

ISBN-13:978-1-938537-05-9