Daniel Olivas, a second-generation Angeleno, is a playwright and the author of 10 books including, most recently, How to Date a Flying Mexican: New and Collected Stories (University of Nevada 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). His first full-length play, Waiting for Godínez, was selected for the Playwrights' Arena Summer Reading Series, and The Road Theatre's 12th Annual Summer Playwrights Festival, and was a Semi-Finalist for the American Blues Theater’s Blue Ink Playwriting Award. Widely anthologized, he has also written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Alta Journal, Jewish Journal, LARB, La Bloga, and many other print and online publications. By day, Olivas is an attorney in the Public Rights Division of the California Department of Justice. He and his wife make their home in Southern California, and they have an adult son.
CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLES
Four Questions for Xochitl Gonzalez Regarding Her Debut Novel, “Olga Dies Dreaming”
Xochitl Gonzalez speaks with Daniel Olivas about her debut novel, exploring Nuyorican identity, and the gentrification of Brooklyn....
Three Questions for Maceo Montoya Regarding His Illustrated Novel, “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces”
Daniel Olivas interviews Maceo Montoya about his newly published illustrated novel, “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces.”...
Five Questions for V. Castro Regarding Her Novel, “The Queen of the Cicadas”
Daniel Olivas asks Latinx horror writer V. Castro about her debut novel, “The Queen of the Cicadas.”...
Three Questions for Kathleen Alcalá Regarding Her Novel, “Spirits of the Ordinary”
Daniel A. Olivas speaks with Kathleen Alcalá on the republication of her first novel, “Spirits of the Ordinary: A Tale of Casas Grandes.”...
Three Questions for Cherríe Moraga Regarding Her Memoir, “Native Country of the Heart”
Daniel A. Olivas interviews Cherríe Moraga about her most recent memoir....
Four Questions for Luis Alfaro Regarding His “Greek Trilogy”
Daniel Olivas asks Luis Alfaro four burning questions on his newly published trilogy of Greek plays....
Three Questions for Yxta Maya Murray Regarding Her New Short Story Collection “The World Doesn’t Work That Way, but It Could”
The law professor turned author on her new collection and the banality of evil under Trump....
Three Questions for Frederick Luis Aldama Regarding His New Children’s Book, “The Adventures of Chupacabra Charlie”
Daniel Olivas talks to writer Frederick Luis Aldama about his latest children’s book, “The Adventures of Chupacabra Charlie.”...
Two Questions for Rudolfo Anaya
An homage to the Father of Chicano literature, Rudolfo Anaya...
Three Questions for Rigoberto González Regarding His Memoir, “What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth”
Rigoberto González talks about “What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth.”...
Three Questions for John Rechy Regarding His Novel, “After the Blue Hour”
Daniel Olivas talks to John Rechy about “After the Blue Hour.”...
Three Questions for Erika L. Sánchez Regarding Her YA Novel, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter”
Daniel Olivas talks to Erika L. Sánchez about her new young adult novel....
Three Questions for Frederick Luis Aldama Regarding His Debut Short Story Collection, “Long Stories Cut Short”
Daniel Olivas chats with Frederick Luis Aldama about his new short story collection....
Three Questions for Luis Alberto Urrea Regarding his New Poetry Collection, “The Tijuana Book of the Dead”
Luis Alberto Urrea brings us poetry for the people....
An Interview with Alejandro Morales Regarding His New Novel, “River of Angels”
“From that time on, those photos registered in my memory and wouldn’t let go — what I saw, heard, felt from them.”...
Three Questions for Juan Felipe Herrera Regarding His New Book, “Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes”
"We need to walk these books to the centers of educational institutions — this is what it is all about."...
Three Questions for elena minor Regarding Her Debut Poetry Collection, TITULADA
A talk with the poet elena minor about why she does what she does the way that she does....
Three Questions for Désirée Zamorano Regarding Her New Novel
Désirée Zamorano moves from the mystery genre to a realist novel about upwardly mobile, middle-class Latinas in Southern California....
Three Questions for Natalia Sylvester Regarding Her Debut Novel
Sylvester’s novel of kidnapping and terror in Peru....
Three Questions for Maceo Montoya
Maceo Montoya manages to balance humor with pathos as he challenges our views on immigration, gender roles, and politics....
Three Questions for Cristina Henríquez
Daniel A. Olivas talks with Cristina Henríquez about her disturbing and beautiful novel on immigrants living in America....
Two Questions for Sonia Nazario
Daniel Olivas talks with Sonia Nazario about her bestselling Enrique’s Journey....
Three Questions for Michael Nava regarding his new novel, "The City of Palaces"
Daniel Olivas talks with Michael Nava....
Three Questions for Luis J. Rodriguez
Luis J. Rodriguez talks about the upcoming 13th anniversary of Tía Chucha’s Café & Centro Cultural....
Three Questions for Verónica Reyes Regarding Her Debut Poetry Collection, "Chopper! Chopper!"
Daniel Olivas interviews the self-described “Chicana feminist jota poet from East Los Angeles.”...
Three Questions for Ramón García
IN 2007, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC), in conjunction with the University of Minnesota Press, published its first title ...
Three Questions for Daniel Alarcón
Daniel Alarcón talks about his new novel, At Night We Walk in Circles....
Three Questions by Daniel Olivas: Menes and Huerta
DANIEL OLIVAS has built a formidable library of interviews for LARB: Sandra Cisneros, Rudolfo Anaya, Mario Alberto Zambrano, Reyna Grande, Manuel ...
Three Questions for Orlando Ricardo Menes
DANIEL OLIVAS: Some if not most readers will assume that the title of your collection is a reference to the erotic ...
Three Questions for Alvaro Huerta
As social scientists and public intellectuals concerned with the plight of those on the bottom, Alvaro Huerta says, we need to think big and bold....
Three Questions for Mario Alberto Zambrano
DANIEL OLIVAS AND MARIO ALBERTO ZAMBRANO talk about his celebrated first novel, Lotería. ¤ DANIEL OLIVAS: In your ...
Latino Noir: Manuel Ramos Talks to Daniel Olivas
TWENTY YEARS AGO, Manuel Ramos introduced lovers of noir fiction to Luis Móntez, a burnt-out Denver attorney, in the ...
The Second Act of Alex Espinoza
ALEX ESPINOZA, the youngest of 11 children, was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and raised in Los Angeles. After graduating from the ...
La Chicana Verdadera: Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs on Helena María Viramontes
HELENA MARÍA VIRAMONTES is the author of The Moths and Other Stories (Arte Público Press, 1985), followed ...
Just This Side of Tragic: An Interview with Benjamin Alire Sáenz
BENJAMIN ALIRE SÁENZ IS A QUINTUPLE THREAT. He has been recognized for his novels, short stories, poetry, young adult ...
Playing with Fire: Daniel Olivas interviews Melinda Palacio
MELINDA PALACIO IS TENACIOUS. I learned this in 2005 when I sent out the call for submissions for Latinos in Lotusland: ...
'Different Shades of Red': On Rigoberto González's New Collection
MANY MAY FEEL as though they know Rigoberto González — even if they have not spent any time with ...
Reyna Grande’s Journey: Daniel Olivas interviews Reyna Grande
I FIRST LEARNED of Reyna Grande when she submitted a short story in response to my 2005 call for submissions for ...
Three Questions for Sandra Cisneros Regarding Her New Book, "Have You Seen Marie?"
DANIEL OLIVAS: Your new book, Have You Seen Marie? (Knopf), is ostensibly about two women who search a San Antonio neighborhood ...
Wincing in Anticipation: An Interview with Justin Torres
I FIRST LEARNED of Justin Torres’s short and elegant debut novel, We the Animals, in a review right here ...
On Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West
I FIRST MET RUBÉN MARTÍNEZ three years ago on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles, which ...
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