Virtual Event: Melissa Lozada-Oliva

Harvard Book Store's virtual event series welcomes celebrated poet MELISSA LOZADA-OLIVA for a discussion of her debut novel, Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse. She will be joined in conversation by SADIE DUPUIS, lead singer of Speedy Ortiz and author of Mouthguard: Poems.

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While payment is not required, we are suggesting a $5 contribution to support this author series, our staff, and the future of Harvard Book Store—a locally owned, independently run Cambridge institution. In addition, by purchasing a copy of Dreaming of You on harvard.com, you support indie bookselling and the writing community during this difficult time.

About Dreaming of You

Melissa Lozada-Oliva's Dreaming of You is an absurd yet heartfelt examination of celebrity worship.

A young Latinx poet grappling with loneliness and heartache decides one day to bring Tejano pop star Selena Quintanilla back to life. The séance kicks off an uncanny trip narrated by a Greek chorus of gossiping spirits as she journeys through a dead celebrity prom, encounters her shadow self, and performs karaoke in hell.

In visceral poems embodying millennial angst, paragraph-long conversations overheard at her local coffeeshop, and unhinged Twitter rants, Lozada-Oliva reveals an eerie, sometimes gruesome, yet moving love story.

Playfully morbid and profoundly candid, an interrogation of Latinidad, womanhood, obsession, and disillusionment, Dreaming of You grapples with the cost of being seen for your truest self.

Praise for Dreaming of You

“Melissa Lozada-Oliva’s kinetic, pop-operatic Dreaming of You is like some terrific amalgam of fan fiction and fantasy nonfiction; a Selena monograph made of memoir, myth and magic. Her partly satirical, partly ecstatic linguistics constitute a whole other sort of literary hybrid. And, while I strain to describe Lozada-Oliva's virtuosity, I want to very plainly say, at the heart of it all, Dreaming of You is a collection of moving, mercurial poems. Melissa Lozada-Oliva is truly a singular new voice.“ —Terrance Hayes, National Book Award-winning author of Lighthead

"Dazzling, playful, and likely to break your heart at least twice. I love Dreaming of You five hundred times as much as I hate writing blurbs. Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a magician.” —Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

"Some use the term 'confessional poetry' to disparage the writer. However, there is a craft to revealing a secret. Ask your favorite chismoso. Melissa Lozada-Oliva's Dreaming of You is a delight to read because Lozada-Oliva knows how to make awkwardness flinch, how to make crushes flutter, and how to make despair cry. Melissa Lozada-Oliva is the poet laureate of chisme." —José Olivarez, author of Citizen Illegal