Daniel Olivas

"Olivas is adept at establishing character in a sentence or two; he creates an image, a moment of self-deception, in which we come to know these characters intimately and easily imagine their entire lives..." —The Los Angeles Times

"Daniel Olivas has been steadily developing into one of the primary voices of Latino literature's new wave." —Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Hummingbird's Daughter

"Olivas is a literary marvel." —Shelf Awareness

"Daniel A. Olivas is the unofficial literary ambassador of Latino L.A."

—My Latino Voice

"Olivas is emerging as an important voice in the social and magical realist tradition of Luis Alberto Urrea, Gabriel García Márquez and Sandra Cisneros."

—High Country News

Daniel A. Olivas is the author of ten books and editor of two anthologies. His latest books are How to Date a Flying Mexican: New and Collected Stories (University of Nevada Press, forthcoming 2022), The King of Lighting Fixtures: Stories (University of Arizona Press, 2017), and Crossing the Border: Collected Poems (Pact Press, 2017). His books also include the novel, The Book of Want (University of Arizona Press, 2011), the landmark anthology, Latinos in Lotusland (Bilingual Press, 2008), and Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature through Essays and Interviews (San Diego State University Press, 2014).

Widely anthologized, Daniel has written for many publications including The New York Times, El Paso Times, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Huffington Post, High Country News, La Bloga, and Jewish Journal.

Daniel's first full-length play, Waiting for Godínez, was selected for the Playwrights' Arena Summer Reading Series (2020), and The Road Theatre's 12th Annual Summer Playwrights Festival (2021). The play was also a semi-finalist in the 2021 Blue Ink Play Award sponsored by American Blues Theater. Daniel was selected for Circle X Theatre's inaugural Evolving Playwrights Group where he adapted his novel The Book of Want for the stage with a reading on June 21, 2021. Daniel's play, Waiting, had its world premiere with Playwrights' Arena on July 24, 2021; it is a shorter, pandemic version of his full-length play, Waiting for Godínez.

Daniel, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, grew up near downtown Los Angeles. He now makes his home in Southern California with his wife. They have an adult son who is a proud graduate of UCLA. Daniel received his degree in English literature from Stanford University and law degree from UCLA. By day, he is an attorney.