Xochitl Gonzalez
American novelist and producer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xochitl Gonzalez (/ˈsoʊtʃiːl/, SO-cheel;[1] born 1977) is an American writer. In 2022, she published her debut novel Olga Dies Dreaming which became a New York Times Best Seller on January 30, 2022.[2]
Xochitl Gonzalez | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 1977 (age 48–49) Brooklyn, New York |
| Education | |
| Notable works | Olga Dies Dreaming |
In 2021, she began writing the newsletter "Brooklyn, Everywhere" for The Atlantic.[3] In 2023, she joined The Atlantic as a staff writer,[4] and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her work there.[5]
Early life and education
Gonzalez was born in New York City to a second-generation Puerto Rican mother and Mexican-American father and raised by her grandparents[6] in the area between Bensonhurst and Borough Park.[7] Her parents were union organizers and activists in the Socialist Workers Party, in which her mother ran for office.[8]
Gonzalez attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn[9] and earned a scholarship to Brown University.[10] At Brown, she intended to study creative writing but ultimately majored in art history.[10][8] Gonzalez graduated from Brown with a Bachelor of Arts in 1999.[11]
Gonzalez was inspired to become a professional writer after the death of her grandmother in 2017, with the sale of her grandmother's home helping to fund her writing efforts.[12]
Gonzalez worked as an entrepreneur and consultant for a number of years before earning her MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2021.[13]
Career
In 2022, Gonzalez published Olga Dies Dreaming, her debut novel. The novel was in part inspired by her past career as a wedding planner for the ultra-rich in New York City following the 2008 recession.[10] The book was reviewed positively by Ron Charles for The Washington Post and Shannon Melero for Jezebel.[14][15] Kirkus Reviews called the book "atmospheric, intelligent, and well informed: an impressive debut."[16] Gonzalez wrote and co-executive produced,[17] alongside filmmaker Alfonso Gómez-Rejón, a pilot for a drama based on the novel produced by Hulu and starring Aubrey Plaza and Ramón Rodríguez.[18][19] Hulu decided not to pick up the series.[20]
In 2024, her follow-up novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last was published.[21] NPR wrote that "Gonzalez's second novel brilliantly surpasses the promise of her popular debut Olga Dies Dreaming."[22] The novel follows college student Raquel Toro as she discovers the art of Anita de Monte, a character based on the Cuban artist Ana Mendieta.[21] Gonzalez claimed that she visited a location supposedly haunted by Mendieta and was visited by a spirit of the artist, who posthumously encouraged her story to be told.[12]
Her 2022 essay "Why Do Rich People Love Quiet?" explored the relationship between class and noise and the desire of the wealthy to impose their norms on others.[23] It inspired a study at the University of Connecticut that tracked the movements of Latine and white students on campus to measure their preference for noise.[24]
In June 2022, Gonzalez was elected a trustee of Brown University.[25]
Gonzalez was a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary finalist for her work writing the newsletter Brooklyn, Everywhere.[12]
In 2025, Gonzalez coined the phrase "comfort class" to describe "people who were born into lives of financial stability" whose "disconnect from the lives of the majority has expanded to such a chasm that their perspective—and authority—may no longer be relevant."[26]
In 2026 she published her third novel Last Night in Brooklyn.[27][28][29]
Bibliography
Novels
- —— (2022). Olga Dies Dreaming. Flatiron Books. ISBN 9781250786173.
- —— (2024). Anita de Monte Laughs Last. Flatiron Books. ISBN 9781250786210.
- —— (2026). Last Night in Brooklyn. Flatiron Books. ISBN 9781250372031.
