A conversation between fiction writers Donna Miscolta and Marianne Villanueva about where stories come from, what scares them and what makes them laugh when they’re creating characters and situations. Marianne Villanueva, author of four books of dystopian, surreal, and fantasy fiction, will pose questions to Donna Miscolta about her new realist novel Ofelia and Norma. Miscolta, author of four books of fiction, will ask Villanueva about her latest story collection Residents of the Deep.

Donna Miscolta’s latest of four books of fiction is Ofelia and Norma. Her stories, essays, and book reviews have appeared in dozens of journals and anthologies. A recording of her work is part of the Library of Congress PALABRA Archive, a showcase for Latin American and Latino writers. She recently moved to Spain and blogs monthly at donnamiscolta.com.

Marianne Villanueva is the author of the story collections Ginseng and Other Tales from Manila, Mayor of the Roses, The Lost Language, and Residents of the Deep. A recipient of fellowships from Stanford University and the California Arts Council, she is writing her first
novel, set in 16th-century Spain and the Philippines.

In Ofelia and Norma, large-bodied twin sisters struggle for a sense of self. When Ofelia sheds pounds from long, solo walks, Norma senses their twinness slipping away. She slips away to an out-of-town college, leaving Ofelia for the first time, and each sister confronts alone life as a large person in an anti-large-person world.  Ofelia, having previously lost weight without trying, now makes a deliberate effort to do so, resulting in a disaster that shakes her to her senses. Meanwhile, Norma escapes into her solitude by swimming laps in the college pool where she suffers an experience that sends her into emotional retreat. They move into careers, still estranged until a tender moment leads to the sharing of their secrets and revenge for what one of them has suffered.

In Residents of the Deep, Marianne Villanueva explores human resilience in moments of extremity through a series of gripping stories. In “Ice,” two men confront their future in a barren, post-apocalyptic world where survival itself becomes the only meaning: “The point is, there is no point. You just keep going.” In Dumaguete, a young boy is forced to protect his mother, a role that threatens to unravel him. The title story follows a ship captain who discovers a submerged city and is thrust into a moral reckoning that challenges his understanding of responsibility. Clear-eyed and unflinching, these stories reveal the raw tenacity and unyielding spirit of humanity, even in the face of profound vulnerability and hardship.