PERSONAL BIO

Prior to this, I wore a number of hats ranging from gallery girl to tarot reader to event planner and entrepreneur. I was raised by my maternal grandparents in Southern Brooklyn. I went to public school. I went to Brown. I started a business with my best friend. I made some money. I lost some money. I made friends, lots of wonderful friends. I lived a little, a lot of the time. I still do. I turned 40 and got scared of not doing the thing I always wanted to do, and so I did it. I went to Bread Loaf. I got into Iowa and blew up my whole life in New York and moved to the land of the corn. I wrote a novel called Olga Dies Dreaming, forthcoming from Flatiron Books and excerpted on Joyland and Bustle. You can reach out to me at empressofbrooklyn at google dot com. I'm not on Facebook because I think it's the devil, but I'm also a hypocrite, so you can find me on Instagram and Twitter.

PROFESSIONAL BIO

Xochitl Gonzalez has an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow and recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Prize in Fiction. She was the winner of the 2019 Disquiet Literary Prize and her work has been published on Ninth Letter, Joyland Magazine, Vogue and The Cut. Her debut novel Olga Dies Dreaming will be published in January ’22 by Flatiron Books. Prior to beginning her MFA, Xochitl was an entrepreneur and strategic consultant for nearly 15 years. She serves on the Board of the Lower East Side Girls Club. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, she received her B.A. in Fine Art from Brown University. She lives in her hometown of Brooklyn with her dog, Hectah Lavoe.