Robert Lopez
ABOUT the author
Robert Lopez is the author of three novels, Part of the World, Kamby Bolongo Mean River, named one of 25 important books of the decade by HTML Giant, and All Back Full; two story collections, Asunder and Good People, and a novel-in-stories titled A Better Class of People. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry has appeared in dozens of publications, including Bomb, The Threepenny Review, Vice Magazine, New England Review, The Sun, and the Norton Anthology of Sudden Fiction – Latino. He teaches at Stony Brook University and has previously taught at Columbia University, The New School, Pratt Institute, and Syracuse University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Find out more about the author here: robertlopez.net
Instagram: @robertlopez2901
Available from Two Dollar Radio
Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere: An American Story of Assimilation and Erasure
"Robert Lopez’s family story about cultural erasure has stuck with me for months after my first read. Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere is an honest and deep emotional exploration of the author’s family history, dating back to his grandfather Sixto’s immigration to the United States in the 1920s. Lopez honors the past and imagines his grandfather’s history through what he can remember in an effort to re-claim a heritage that has been threatened by assimilation."
—Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books
Interviews
Listen:
First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing: Interview with Robert Lopez | 3/27/2023
Host Mitzi Rapkin speaks with author Robert Lopez about the origins of his first non-fiction book—the memoir Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere, his family, the importance of form, memory and fragmentation, and so much more!
Bookin' Podcast interview with Robert Lopez | 3/27/2023
Host Jason Jefferies spoke with author Robert Lopez about the release of his memoir, Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere, the American experience in 2023, whether Puerto Rico is a part of the United States in popular opinion, turning an insult into a word of power, tennis, the pledge of allegiance, and much more! Presented by Explore Booksellers.
Cincinnati Edition interview with Robert Lopez | March 9, 2023
"Downbound Books hosts indie publisher Two Dollar Radio for an event to engage readers"
Lucy May, host of Cincinnati Edition (WVXU, Cincinnati Public Radio) speaks with Robert Lopez, author of Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere; Eric Obenauf, editor and publisher of Two Dollar Radio; and Anne Trubek, founder and publisher of another indie press located in Ohio: Belt Publishing. Topics of discussion during the radio program include the role of independent publishing, the Midwest literary scene, how Robert came to be published by Two Dollar Radio and more!
Read:
Orange County Register Interview with Robert Lopez | 4/20/2023
For The Orange County Register, Stuart Miller spoke with author Robert Lopez about his atypical approach to writing about family in his debut memoir, assimilation in the US, about what the void in his Puerto Rican family history has meant to him, and so much more!
Latino Book Review Interview with Robert Lopez | 4/2/2023
Daniel A. Olivas spoke with Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere author Robert Lopez about his Puerto Rican heritage, the importance of language, and more!
Electric Literature Interview: "What’s More American Than Erasure?" | 3/23/2023
For Electric Literature, Alyssa Oursler interviewed Robert Lopez about his non-fiction debut, assimilation, language, sports, and American culture.
Brooklyn Magazine Interview with Robert Lopez | 3/16/2023
Colin Kirkland, for Brooklyn Magazine, speaks with Lopez about moving from fiction to memoir with his latest book, Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere, the realities of American assimilation, Brooklyn’s diverse tennis community and more!
Q&A with Robert Lopez | 7/6/2022
We talk with Robert Lopez about his forthcoming nonfiction title Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere: An American Story of Assimilation and Erasure, immigration and family assimilation in the U.S., Brooklyn neighborhoods, his love of tennis, and more.
