Xóchitl González’s Olga Dies Dreaming Is Rochester Reads Selection of 2024
Writers & Books Hosts NY Times Bestselling Novelist at The Strong Museum on October 15
Rochester, NY—Writers & Books, Rochester’s premier home for the literary arts, welcomes Xóchitl (So-cheel) González to the city on October 15, when her debut bestselling novel Olga Dies Dreaming / Olga muere soñando (Flatiron, 2022) will be featured as the organization’s Rochester Reads 2024 selection. Called “a beautiful force—completely unique in its intricacies yet universal in the characters’ desires to be loved and understood” (Associated Press) and “a sprawling dramedy of love, politics, blackmail and real estate featuring a Puerto Rican family in Brooklyn” (People), the novel was named a Best Book of 2022 by, among others, The New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, NPR, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, New York Post, Barnes & Noble, Vogue, Audible, and the BBC. On October 15, González will meet with School of the Arts creative writing students in the afternoon, then deliver a keynote address and sign copies of her books at the Strong Museum of Play, 1 Manhattan Square Dr, Rochester, NY, 7 - 9 pm. Tickets to the keynote, FREE - $50, and the reception, $75, can be reserved at: https://wab.org/upcoming_events/rochester-reads-2024/.
The Novel
Set in New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history, Olga Dies Dreaming /Olga muere soñando explores the event’s intersection with other storms we weather: familial strife, political corruption, and reaching for the elusive American dream. The New York Times Book Review wrote, “Liberation is at the heart of Olga Dies Dreaming. The story’s driving tension derives from questions of how to break free . . . The book’s title is an allusion to the poem ‘Puerto Rican Obituary,’ by Pedro Pietri, which contains the lines ‘Olga / dies dreaming of a real jewelry.’ But Gonzalez’s Olga will not go meekly to such a fate. Sometimes we must free ourselves—even from dreams.”
The Novelist
Brooklyn native Xóchitl González is also the author of the award-winning novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last (Flatiron, 2024), lauded by NPR as “the best, most elusive combination: a thought-provoking and a brilliantly entertaining triumph.” She is a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Commentary as a staff writer for The Atlantic and the author of The Atlantic’s newsletter, Brooklyn, Everywhere, a publication that centers class, gentrification, and the American dream.
Rochester Reads
Inaugurated in 2001 with Ernest J. Gaines’ award‐winning novel A Lesson before Dying, Rochester Reads is an annual city‐wide tradition that inspires readers to deepen self‐understanding, engage thoughtfully with important issues, and connect with one another through the shared experience of literature.
Writers & Books promotes reading and writing as lifelong activities for people of all ages and backgrounds to enrich their lives and the intellectual, social, and cultural vibrancy of their communities. The organization engages youth and adults with the literary arts through writing workshops, readings, presentations, and intersectional activities. Writers & Books owns and operates Ampersand Books, an in-house independent bookstore, and Gell: A Finger Lakes Creative Retreat, sited on 24 acres in Naples, NY. To learn more, visit www.wab.org.