VROMAN'S LIVE PRESENTS DANIEL A. OLIVAS,
IN CONVERSATION WITH PROFESSOR ÁLVARO HUERTA,
DISCUSSES HOW TO DATE A FLYING MEXICAN
DATE: FEBRUARY 23, 2022
TIME: 6:00 P.M.
This is a virtual event and will take place on Crowdcast
Register for FREE ahead of time to save your spot and get an email reminder!
EVENT LINK FOR REGISTRATION
During the pandemic and in
the wake of his father's death, Daniel A. Olivas set upon the task of reviewing almost 25 years' worth of his short
stories that had been published in various collections or as parts of novels.
Our strange times seemed to call for this type of introspection and
examination. He found that many of his narratives fell within the world of
magic, fairy tales, fables, and dystopian futures. This review also revealed
that many of his fictions confronted—either directly or obliquely—questions of
morality, justice, and self-determination while being deeply steeped in Chicano
and Mexican culture. Olivas decided to choose his favorite tales from the many
scores of stories that populated his published works. He added to the mix two
recent stories—one dystopian, the other magical--both of which confront the
last administration's anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies.
The result is How to Date a Flying Mexican: New and Collected
Stories (University of Nevada
Press). Though his books have been taught in colleges and high schools across
the country for over two decades, this collection brings together some of his
most unforgettable strange tales that will be enjoyed, again, by his fans, and
anew for readers who have not, as yet, experienced Olivas's distinct—and very
Chicano—fiction. A literary critic once called Olivas a "literary
marvel." These stories, collectively, offer ample support for this
declaration.
Praise for How to Date a Flying Mexican
Featured by Poets & Writers magazine as a new and newsworthy book.
“Prompted by tragedy—the
death of his father and the pandemic—Olivas revisits decades of writing to
produce this collection of new and previously published stories. Olivas’s work
is surreal, dystopian, critical, and introspective, ultimately moving into
contemporary political rhetoric.”
—Alta Journal
“Throughout all of his stories, there are strong Chicano characters, who embody
tales that range from the laugh-out-loud funny to the heartbreaking. A timely
retrospective from an important voice in Latinx literature.”
—Wendy J. Fox, BuzzFeed
“Daniel Olivas loves to
tell stories and his writing reflects that joy. Every story is told with a wink
and a smile, encouraging you to follow along for the ride. His humor not only
brings levity to matters of life, death, and human treachery, but it is also a
stylistic choice that Olivas has mastered. These stories aren’t so much about
the interiority of its characters, but about the mythical, magical mundanity of
our lives—Olivas’s style perfectly expresses this contradiction.”
—Maceo Montoya, associate professor of Chicano/a Studies,
University of California, Davis, and author of Preparatory Notes for
Future Masterpieces
“From gritty realism to
mythic and sci-fi speculative, Olivas dishes up an exquisite feast of
short fictions filled to the brim with small and outsized everyday
struggles—and failures. Through it all, we feel the mischievous wink and wry
smile twinkle of an author whose . . . skills clear new space for us to breathe
again in the richness of Latinx ways of life.”
—Frederick Luis Aldama, award winning author and Jacob &
Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at University of
Texas, Austin
“This kinetic new collection of stories is exuberant and poignant, filled with
the homegrown details of Latinx life as well as a kind of cheerful, saucy
magic.”
—Yxta Maya Murray, law professor, Loyola Law School and author of The
World Doesn’t Work that Way, but It Could: Stories
“Olivas has the voice of both an ancient and modern storyteller. He is very
deft and sure with language. The stories make a significant contribute to the
Latinx community and beyond.”
—David Kranes, professor emeritus of English, University of Utah, and
author of Keno Runner, Abracadabra, and Performance
Art: Stories
***
If you can’t make the
Vroman’s Bookstore event, visit my events
page for other opportunities including a virtual event at Skylight Books on
February 26 where I will be in conversation with writer and educator, Lorinda
Toledo. You may register for this Skylight Books event here.
