Carmen Alvarez interviewing Moreno-Garcia and sharing audience questions. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
The Humanities Institute at the University of South Florida welcomed New York Times bestselling author Silvia Moreno Garcia for a discussion about her recent book, “Silver Nitrate.”
Moreno-Garcia, who is Mexican by birth and Canadian by inclination, is also the author of several critically acclaimed novels, including “Gods of Jade and Shadow,” “Mexican Gothic,” “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau,” and “Velvet Was the Night.” She has won multiple “Best Books of the Year” awards from The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, NPR, Vox, and Book Riot.
During the conversation, which was moderated by USF alumna and book reviewer Carmen Alvarez, Moreno-Garcia shared insights into her writing process, her feelings about strong female characters, how she feels about reader feedback, and how music and her Mexican heritage play a key role in her novels and storytelling.
In speaking about “Silver Nitrate,” she mentioned that felt compelled to write a story that harkened back to the golden age of cinema in Mexico while infusing it with horror themes from movies that she grew up watching as an adolescent.
Alvarez, who is a social media influencer in the reading and book community, says she first found out about Moreno-Garcia’s forthcoming visit from a friend who was a featured speaker at a Humanities Institute event last Fall.
“Silvia is one of my favorite authors. I have a whole playlist dedicated to her and her books on my TikTok and my Instagram followers are very aware,” she said. “My friend Alicia was the featured author last Fall and was told Silvia would be the 2023 author, she placed my hat in the ring to be Silvia’s conversation partner. I would have to say that I never believed it would happen, but I was fortunate enough that USF and Silvia trusted me enough to moderate the discussion. It was truly an honor.”
Moreno-Garcia participated in a book signing at the conclusion of the discussion. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
Moreno-Garcia also spent time discussing how algorithms on digital platforms have impacted the way people consume and access literature and media, as well as the challenges it creates for new or upcoming authors.
“It seems it’s much harder these days for older, unarchived media or authors doing self-publishing to get their work in front of a large audience. So, the art of discovery becomes very difficult,” Moreno-Garcia explained. “Sometimes things get promoted that are really kind of bad, but they get a lot of money to put it out on these sites. Younger authors in these certain spaces see this and it may feel to them that there's nothing they can do unless they have that kind of money to put it out on all these places.”
Alvarez expressed why it’s important we have these conversations with authors and learn about their lived experiences.
“There are so many reasons for students to hear from career authors. Most importantly, hearing about writing and lived experiences helps inspire the next generation of writers,” she said. “I believe [these conversations] are a way to encourage and show young writers that not every path is the same and that you can still be on the path, even if it doesn't seem like you are. Authors' lived experiences offer diverse paths to success that students may never have considered.”
"Silver Nitrate" book on display stand (Photo by Corey Lepak)
Alvarez also hopes the discussion inspired and educated both new and seasoned readers.
“Anytime I'm in conversation with an author, the first item on the agenda is inspiring new readers--whether it be new-to-the-author readers or in the case of an author like Silvia, to entice the audience to pick up the author's most recent release. With authors as prolific as Silvia, Silver Nitrate is at the top of everyone's mind, but her incredible and deep backlog of books (nine full-length novels and countless novellas, short stories and anthologies she's edited) deserve recognition, especially since they may not have received the marketing budget of ‘Silver Nitrate’.”
“I hope that the audience took away that Silvia not only defies genre with every book, but even within her books. She's a groundbreaking author who deserves all the accolades even if she is not on every best seller's list,” she said. “I want the audience to walk away being as big of a fan of Silvia's as I am.”
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