Episode 271 with Alejandro Heredia, Author of Loca, Crafter of Beautiful, Indelible Images, and Resonant Characters and Scenes

Notes and Links to Alejandro Heredia’s Work

 

 

 

   Alejandro Heredia is a queer Afro-Dominican writer from The Bronx. His debut novel LOCA is out today (February 11) from Simon and Schuster. He has received fellowships from Lambda Literary, VONA, the Dominican Studies Institute, Kenyon Review, and Trinity College. In 2019, he was selected by Myriam Gurba as the winner of the Gold Line Press Fiction Chapbook Contest. His chapbook of short stories, You’re the Only Friend I Need (2021), explores themes of queer transnationalism, friendship, and (un)belonging in the African Diaspora. Heredia’s work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Lambda Literary Review, The Offing, and elsewhere. He received an MFA in fiction from Hunter College.

   Heredia currently serves as Black Mountain Institute’s Shearing Fellow at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Buy Loca

 

Alejandro Heredia's Website

 

Book Review for Loca

 

At about 2:40, Alejandro shares his feelings as the book’s Pub Day approaches, as well as feedback that he hasn’t gotten on the novel

At about 4:40, Alejandro talks about his bilingualism, growing up in The Bronx and The Dominican Republic, and what led him towards writing 

At about 7:10, Alejandro talks about how being bilingual helps him to become a better writer/thinker and how his Spanglish has developed 

At about 9:25, Alejandro gives some background on a specific Dominican word

At about 10:25, Alejandro responds to Pete’s questions about what he was reading that served as foundational for him and he expands upon “writing across difference”

At about 13:10, Alejandro cites contemporary fiction that inspires and challenges, including Gina Chung’s work

At about 14:10, Alejandro outlines ideas of how he sees the use of the word “queer”

At about 16:00, Alejandro expands upon seeds and stimulating ideas for his book, especially wth regard to the “Author’s Note”

At about 19:10, Alejandro expands on his Author’s Note reference to fiction’s “capaciousness” and how fiction’s constructs helped him write about loss and grief in Loca

At about 21:10, Alejandro talks about the significance of his two epigraphs and ideas of “home” and friendship 

At about 23:40, Pete and Alejandro talks about the book’s exposition and an early inciting incident 

At about 24:30, Pete asks Alejandro about main character Charo’s domesticity and her visceral negative reaction

At about 26:05, The two discuss ideas of community and Y2K and the importance of the “queer space” at The Shade Room in a Dominican and Puerto Rican community

At about 28:20, Alejandro talks about intersectionality and his qualms about its usage in early reviews of the novel

At about 30:55, Pete and Alejandro discuss Vance and Sal’s first meeting and budding relationship and ideas of “identity politics and language”

At about 32:25, The two discuss important familial and friend characters 

At about 33:55, Yadiel is discussed as a proud queer character and Aljandrro expands upon a moment in which Sal and Yadiel 

At about 36:15, Alejandro responds to Pete’s questions about a “moment in time” and a “utpian moment,” and expands upon the good and bad of life “at the margins”

At about 39:35, Alejandro replies to Pete’s question about the ways in which he deals wth sexual abuse and its effects and the abuse as “foundational” and “inform[ing]” Sal’s adolescence and beyond

At about 42:45, Vance and his likability and Ren are described 

At about 43:55, Anacaona and her history are discussed in connection to an important flashback in the book

At about 46:00, Alejandro expands upon ideas of “erasing Blackness” that come as unintentional (?) effects of the portrayal of the Taino peoples 

At about 49:15, Robert and his sympathetic nature and his usage of a homophobic slur are discussed, as Alejandro discusses the “reclaiming” of the word in the queer Dominican community

At about 50:40, Don Julio, Sal’s roommate, and his emblematic background are discussed, along with the benefits and drawbacks of “normalizing” a reclaimed word

At about 53:00, Alejandro talks about being a “writer of images” after Pete compliments one of many resonant scenes

At about 54:55, Pete and Alejandro tiptoe around any spoilers

At about 55:50, Sal and Kiko and their minor triumphs and Sal’s success as a teacher are discussed 

At about 57:00, Pete wonders about Lena, an eccentric character in the book, and Alejandro talks about some ambiguities 

At about 59:00, Robert and Charo’s relationship and ideas of repression, personal choice, and guilt throughout the book are discussed 

At about 1:03:25, Pete and Alejandro discuss generational differences in the ways in which Sal and Vance interact and see progressive movements 

At about 1:07:40, Alejandro discusses social media contact info and points listeners towards his upcoming tour dates

 

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    Please tune in for Episode 272 with Lamya H. Lamya is a queer Muslim writer and organizer living in New York City whose 2023 memoir HIJAB BUTCH BLUES won the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize and a Stonewall Non-fiction Book Award, and was also a finalist for Lambda Literary and Publishing Triangle Awards. Lamya’s organizing work centers around creating spaces for LGBTQ+ Muslims, fighting Islamophobia, Palestine, and prison abolition.

   The episode airs on February 18.