Spotlight on Daniel Olivas

Daniel A. Olivas is the author of the story collections Devil Talk and Assumption, the novella The Courtship of Maria Rivera Pena, and the children's book Benjamin and the Word. He has a book of poetry forthcoming from Ghost Road Press in 2010, and another short-story collection to be published by Bilingual Press in 2009. A co-blogger on La Bloga (which is dedicated to Chicano/a and Latino/a literature), Olivas practices law with the California Department of Justice in Los Angeles where he makes his home with his wife and son.

His new book Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature, is published by Bilingual Press

While this anthology was compiled with the California experience in mind, Olivas states:

Finally, though it is difficult to pinpoint, the Latino experience in California, in general, and Los Angeles, in particular, is tied rather dramatically to the State's varied terrain (from beaches to mountains to deserts to asphalt), dependence on the car to get virtually anywhere, the freeway system, almost unrelenting sunshine, and the entertainment industry. I don't believe that the stories in the anthology could not be transplanted to, say, Denver or El Paso or Las Vegas.

Read the full interview by Rigoberto Gonzalez at Critical Mass, the blog of the national book critics circle.