Writers That Inspire Us: The Many Worlds of Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My first introduction to Silvia Moreno-Garcia was her debut novel Signal to Noise. Billed as a “literary fantasy,” it tells the story of Meche, a teenager in 1980s Mexico City, who discovers that there is magic in music. Literally. It’s a fantastical love letter to an era of mixtapes, a coming-of-age story, a family drama, and a romance. Whew! It’s doing a lot.
And Silvia Moreno-Garcia was just getting started. She is, to quote author Charlie Jane Anders, “a genre-jumping wizard.” Since 2015, when Signal to Noise was published, Moreno-Garcia has published a neo-noir vampire novel (Certain Dark Things), a novel of manners that happens to involve telekinesis (The Beautiful Ones), a reimagined Mayan folkloric quest novel (Gods of Jade and Shadow), a classic noir suspense novel (Untamed Shore), and her most recent, the much-acclaimed retro horror tale Mexican Gothic.
While much (but not all!) of her work could be gathered under the speculative fiction umbrella, Moreno-Garcia is clearly having a ton of fun exploring the various tropes and storytelling structures of a variety of genres. In a 2017 Q&A with CBC Books, she stated, “…my writing bleeds through categories and I enjoy the challenge of changing constantly, like molting out of a book.”
It’s a great image. I love the idea that one can “molt out” of a book and start fresh, changed by the experience but not bound to it. The way that Moreno-Garcia writes not only a variety of sub-genres but also a variety of time periods is a testament to both her skill and to her sense of fun.
It’s not always easy. With her books having Mexican settings and characters, there has been push back from editors and publishers. The narrow limits of what people are willing to accept from Latinx writers (either magic realism or tragic immigrant stories), has been a challenge for her to overcome.
“There was one time where I was asked if I wouldn’t mind changing the names of the characters to Anglo names (which didn’t make sense). Someone once told me my name was too long and maybe I should change that. Another person said I was not the type of writer who would ever be able to break out. You name it, I heard it,” Moreno-Garcia told Bookstr in 2020.
Her title Mexican Gothic is a blatant rejection of these limitations that the publishing industry imposes. In a Pen America interview, she says: “I thought Mexican Gothic was a mordant title because when you are Latin American, everything you write is called magic realist by default, and that’s the only thing you are allowed to write. I thought the title made it very clear that this is not magic realism and that we can write other stuff.”
One of the ways in which Moreno-Garcia appears to be setting out to upend these prejudices is by the sheer volume of non-conforming work that she is producing. It’s both awe-inspiring and just straight up inspiring to see how much she has accomplished.
In addition to the novels that I’ve already mentioned, she has published a lengthy and impressive list of short fiction, as well as two novellas, edited several anthologies, and is a regular columnist for The Washington Post. In 2016 she completed her MA in Science and Technology Studies and her thesis, “Magna Mater: Women and Eugenic Thought in the Work of H.P. Lovecraft” is published online.
Somewhere amidst all of this she also finds the time to run the micro-press Innsmouth Free Press, maintain a newsletter through her website, and stay active on social media. Nothing is slowing Silvia Moreno-Garcia down.
In 2021, we can look forward to three new editions of previously published novels, as well as a brand new novel and a novella. I, for one, am incredibly excited about her new mystery noir, Velvet Was the Night. The mini description on her website reads: “A stylish noir about crime, passion, and murder set against the backdrop of protest and political drama in 1970s Mexico.” Um, yes please. (Although I’m certainly not going to say no to the novella either—a sword and sorcery tale called The Return of the Sorceress.)
With so many entry points, you’d be hard-pressed not to be intrigued by at least one title by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. And leave any assumptions at the door, please. She isn’t going to be serving up any stereotypes. Instead, what you’ll get is a fantastic story, wonderful depth of character, and an evocative immersion in whatever era and genre she has chosen this time around. It’s writers like Moreno-Garcia who help us to push the boundaries and nudge the publishing industry into acknowledging that the world of storytelling is vast, with no limits.
About Lindsay Hobbs
Lindsay is a freelance editor, writer, and podcaster living in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario, Canada. In between reading books (and writing about them), she works as a library branch assistant and program developer. Currently, Lindsay is an editor at Cloud Lake Literary and the co-host of Story Girls: A Fortnightly Podcast About Books, with a Dash of Absurdity. You can find her personal bookish musings at her blog, Topaz Literary.
