Gabriela Garcia

Gabriela Garcia is a fiction writer and poet whose debut novel, "Of Women and Salt," established her as a significant voice in contemporary American literature. The novel became a New York Times and indie bestseller, received the International Latino Book Award, was selected as a New York Times Editors' Choice, and was featured as a Good Morning America Book Club pick. "Of Women and Salt" was also recognized as a best book of the year by The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Harper's Bazaar, and other publications. The novel earned the Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Fiction Award and the She Reads Best of 2021 Award.

Spanning from 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers and moving between Cuba and Mexico, "Of Women and Salt" explores personal and political betrayals that have shaped the lives of women across generations. The novel examines themes of diaspora, immigration, and the complexities of American identity. Garcia's work has been translated into 14 languages. Her writing appears in Best American Poetry, the New York Times, Ms. Magazine, Tin House, and Zyzzyva, among other outlets.

The daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Mexico, Garcia worked as a feminist and migrant rights organizer for a decade before earning an MFA in fiction from Purdue University. Her novel draws on her experience as an organizer advocating for women and families in migrant detention centers, as well as her family's immigration history. Garcia also holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and media studies from Fordham University.

Garcia has received the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award, a Steinbeck Fellowship, and fellowships and residencies from Breadloaf, Sarabande Books, Lighthouse Works, the Keller Estate, and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley. She has taught creative writing at Purdue University. Garcia frequently speaks about her writing process and the intersection of literature, immigration, social justice, and storytelling.