New York-based writer Alejandro Heredia didn’t mean to write a critique of his hometown, but that’s kind of how it turned out. His debut novel Loca, coming out in February, follows two characters in The Bronx’s Dominican neighborhood through their search for acceptance, belonging, and ultimately a place to call home. Within the friends’ exploration of the vibrant LGBTQ scene of late-’90s New York, Heredia embeds a simultaneous study of community and identity — complicating the pigeonholes people are often assigned. Spending the 2024-25 academic year in Las Vegas as a UNLV Black Mountain Institute Shearing Fellow, the author talked with Desert Companion about his work.
This is your first time in Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert. Your writing suggests that you really have an eye for the deep magic of a new place. What are you finding here?
I am finding lots of quiet time to write, which is really incredible to find anywhere in any big city. But I'm also finding really amazing folks that know so much about food and art and performance and literature, and that's been really, really rewarding.
Neighborhood is an essential part of your work for your fellowship. You live in the Lucy, which is connected to the Beverly Theater in downtown Las Vegas. Have you explored some other neighborhoods in Las Vegas yet?
I've been in the Arts District, and that's been really nice. It kind of feels like home a little bit, with the different shops and businesses that are there. And that's been a lot of fun to just walk around, get some coffee, grab food, meet up with friends.
Your partner and family are still back home in New York. How has that experience been for you?
It's been challenging. I think that we romanticize what it's like to move somewhere new and kind of start over. So, it's been challenging in that way, because I've sort of had to build a new community here in Las Vegas. But it's also been incredibly rewarding. I tell people that being a writer is an incredibly boring job, because I just have to be home almost every single day, just reading and writing and making sure that I'm paying attention to my habits and my (writing) practice. And so because of the isolation, there are pros and cons. The con is that I miss my folks, I miss my partner, I miss my family. But the great pro is that I get to spend so much time in my mind. I get to spend so much time thinking creatively and critically about my work and the kinds of things that I want to create.
I find that it's funny. I did not mean to write such an anti-New York novel, but it's kind of what ended up happening. A lot of these characters feel very alone, even when they're surrounded by their supposed community, right? Charo is living in what I call, in my own work, ‘The Dominican Village.’ She's in the Bronx. She's surrounded by Dominican people. She's surrounded by some family, friends that she meets in the street at random times, but she still feels incredibly alone within the confines of her domestic life. And so part of what I was trying to explore is the ways in which we feel like we don't belong, even in the communities that are supposed to be the places where we belong ...
To hear more from Alejandro, tune into the latest episode of Black Mountain Institute Conversations on KNPR 88.9, Sunday, December 1 at 6 p.m. PST.
