How do you generally feel about authors writing about experiences they have not lived through? Have you read any books by Latinx authors with similar themes or plots that you would recommend reading in tandem with this book?

As a white author, Julie Carrick Dalton did much research on anti-Latinx racism while writing this book. How do you generally feel about authors writing about experiences they have not lived through? Have you read any books by Latinx authors (fiction or nonfiction) with similar themes or plots that you would recommend reading in tandem with Waiting for the Night Song?

I don’t have a problem with authors writing about experiences that they don’t live through. Fortunately, we have the freedom to write about whatever we want to write about. We shouldn’t be limited by our own personal experiences. I primarily read for fun and escape. Most of the time I don’t pay attention to details about the author especially if they are a relatively new author. For most books, I couldn’t tell you the gender, race, or country of origin of the author. I read a variety of genres.

If well researched, there is no reason an author can't delve into a subject they haven't experienced. The research is necessary for authenticity and to ensure facts are true. The story does not rely on eye-witness testimony.

I do have some concerns. Authors of color are often marginalized with their writing as they unfortunately are with everything else. Representation is important and it is vital to hear from minority writers.

I completely agree, Wendy. I take no issue with writers writing outside their lived experiences, as long as the publishing industry does their part to elevate minority authors. The fact that I can't think of a novel by a Latinx author off the top of my head about environmentalism (while I can think of several by white authors) I think points to gaps in my own reading, but also a wider issue of which books get published and which get the most marketing.

One book that I think might be thematically similar to this one is I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez, which is another coming of age novel with a mystery component, that strongly focuses on Mexican-American identity. Although the characters in Waiting for the Night Song are not Mexican, this might be an interesting comparison for anyone looking to read another book about Latin American identity.

I encourage authors to write about things they have no experience with - that helps to make a really good story because the author's perceptions can help describe a situation.

As long as the book is well-researched so that the story does reflect the thoughts and feelings of those who have experienced events I do not have a problem with the novel and I gained a deeper appreciation of the hardships and joys these immigrant families lived through. Compared to other novels with I have read this is absorbing and appears to be accurate.

I feel like the topics that she attempted to write about here in this particular context are important things to include in works of fiction as that is one of the best ways to reach a large group of people that aren't necessarily seeking the exposure. That being said, it was a bit privileged (of her writing and therefore likely her privileged personal perspective) to assume that the patriarch of the family would take the particular risk he did at the very end of the novel as it is highly unlikely that would be the sword he chooses to have his family potentially fall on after their tremendous struggles to that point.

I don't have a problem with it if the author has done their research. Maybe the author learns something in the process, maybe their readers do too.