Xochitl Gonzalez papers (MS.2024.020)

Biographical/Historical Note

Xochitl Gonzalez is a cultural critic, producer, screenwriter, and the New York Times bestselling author. Gonzalez was born in 1977 in New York City to a second-generation Puerto Rican mother and Mexican-American father. She was raised by her grandparents in Brooklyn as her parents focused on being activists in the Socialist Workers Party. Gonzalez attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn and earned a scholarship to Brown University. At Brown she majored in art history, but was interested in creative writing and theater. Gonzalez graduated from Brown with a Bachelor of Arts in 1999. In June 2022, Gonzalez was elected a trustee of Brown University.

Gonzalez worked as a wedding planner, an entrepreneur, and a consultant for many years before deciding to pursue a career in writing. After the death of her grandmother in 2017, Gonzalez used the sale of her grandmother's home to help fund her writing efforts.

Gonzalez participated in Bread Loaf Writers' Conference at Middlebury College in 2018 and then in 2019 she was accepted to the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop where she completed her MFA in 2021 and received the Michener-Copernicus Prize in Fiction. Gonzalez began early drafts of her book Olga Dies Dreaming before attending the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and she continued working on the book during her MFA. Olga Dies Dreaming was bought by Flatiron Books during Gonzalez's second semester at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2020 and the book was published in 2022.

Olga Dies Dreaming was inspired by Gonzalez's career as a wedding planner for the ultra-rich in New York City following the 2008 recession. Gonzalez used the narrative to critically explore the ideas of class and the American dream and comment on issues like gentrification. The book was received positively and became a New York Times Bestseller. In 2022 Gonzalez wrote and co-executive produced a pilot for Hulu based on the novel.

In 2024, Gonzalez published her second novel titled Anita de Monte Laughs Last which draws on Gonzalez's undergraduate experiences at Brown University. 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.

Gonzalez was the winner of the 2019 Disquiet Literary Prize and her work has been published in Bustle, Vogue, and The Cut. She continues to write about class, gentrification, and the American dream. Gonzalez is a staff writer for The Atlantic, where her newsletter "Brooklyn, Everywhere," was recognized as a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. Gonzalez is a Brown University Trustee (2022-2028) and is a trustee of the Brooklyn Public Library and a board member of the Pen/Faulkner Foundation and on the board of the Lower Eastside Girls Club.