Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a versatile writer. She published the poetry collection Peluda (Spanish for “hairy”) in 2017, followed by her 2021 debut novel Dreaming of You, which explored Selena Quintanilla’s legacy through verse. In 2023, she released the mystical, multigenerational novel Candelaria. Now, she’s back with Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive!, a collection of short stories that lives up to its bold title.

This week, Vogue spoke with Lozada-Oliva about body horror metaphors, drawing inspiration from the syntax of an Evangelical highway billboard, navigating her identity as a Guatemalan-Colombian-American writer, and more. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Vogue: How does writing and releasing short stories compare to working on novels or poetry for you?

Melissa Lozada-Oliva: I find writing short stories similar to poetry because both are compact, and often I’m writing toward an uncertain feeling. Sometimes I finish a story and realize what I was trying to say only afterward—the same thing happens with poetry.

Vogue: Can you tell me about how you came up with this book’s incredible title?

Melissa Lozada-Oliva: I saw it on a highway billboard, just like one of the characters in the book. These Evangelical messages aim to spread faith, but I was struck by the syntax—the comma, the exclamation point. It’s such a wild sentence. I also thought about how beautiful and intense it is to truly believe in something like that. The characters in this book are all trying to believe in things, maybe thinking they’re above those who believe in God, yet they’re chasing things that could hurt them because they’re lonely or searching for themselves.

Vogue: Do you think making art about grief helps you process it personally?

Melissa Lozada-Oliva: Working on a project helps you figure things out, and I didn’t fully realize what I was grappling with until I finished. Then it hit me: I was dealing with grief, partly about how the world is changing. These characters are on the edge of adulthood, facing the grief of realizing the world isn’t what they thought, or is shifting rapidly. I wrote many of these stories during the pandemic, stuck at home, processing that time. Acknowledging that grief is something you live with daily makes it more familiar.

Vogue: There’s a lot of eeriness and emotionally charged body horror in this book, especially in the story “Listening.” Are you generally a horror fan?

Melissa Lozada-Oliva: I love horror, though I’m a total scaredy-cat. I just saw Weapons and thought, “That wasn’t so scary,” but then I couldn’t fall asleep until 5 a.m. [Laughs.] Horror movies really stick with me and influence my poetry. It’s easy for me to turn horror into metaphor and use that space to process feelings I don’t fully understand.

Vogue: Your stories feel expansive; did travel or living outside the U.S. inspire you?

Melissa Lozada-Oliva: Every character’s job felt important. I drew from jobs I’ve had and from being in one place with people you grow to care about. One story is set in Guatemala. I visited with my family and experienced culture shock, but it had been so long since I’d been there. Like the characters, I was figuring out my place in the world and where I fit in relation to my country of origin.

I love your line about thThe idea that an artist’s role is to say yes to everything—does that feel true for you at this stage in your career?

Not at all anymore. It’s exhausting. You wind up in places you shouldn’t be, with people who don’t really have your best interests at heart, doing work that doesn’t matter. At the same time, it’s hard to know what to say no to unless you’ve lived through it. I feel like I’ve matured as a writer and artist, and now I know what to turn down—but I couldn’t have learned that without going through those difficult experiences.

Are there any short story collections that influenced this one?

I was really inspired by Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and Shirley Jackson’s story “The Tooth.” Jackson has a collection called The Adventures of James Harris, which features women dissatisfied with their domestic lives who encounter a mysterious, sometimes devilish figure named James Harris (or Jimmy). I was drawn to the idea of strangers who remain undefined in fiction.

Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive!
$24 at Bookshop

Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Melissa LozadaOlivas New Short Story Collection

1 What is the title of Melissa LozadaOlivas new short story collection
Its titled Beyond All Reasonable Doubt Jesus Is Alive

2 Who is Melissa LozadaOliva
She is a poet writer and performer known for her unique voice that blends humor emotion and cultural themes often exploring identity and personal experiences

3 What is this collection about
The book is a deeply poetic and wonderfully strange collection of short stories that likely mix surrealism personal narrative and cultural commentary often with a focus on faith doubt and identity

4 Is this book fiction or nonfiction
It is a work of fiction presented through short stories with poetic and experimental elements

5 What makes this collection deeply poetic
LozadaOlivas writing style is lyrical and rich with imagery emotion and rhythm even in prose making the stories feel like extended poems or poetic narratives

6 Why is it described as wonderfully strange
The stories likely incorporate surreal absurd or unconventional elements that challenge typical storytelling creating a unique and engaging reading experience

7 Who would enjoy this book
Fans of contemporary short fiction poetry experimental literature and those interested in themes like identity culture faith and the bizarre aspects of everyday life

8 Do I need to be familiar with Melissa LozadaOlivas previous work to enjoy this
No the collection can stand on its own though familiarity with her style might enhance the experience

9 Are there recurring themes in this collection
Common themes likely include faith identity belonging humor grief and the blending of the mundane with the magical or surreal

10 Is this book religious
While the title references Jesus the approach is likely poetic metaphorical or critical rather than strictly religious exploring ideas of belief and doubt in a broader sense

11 How long is the book
Specific length may vary but short story collections are typically around 150250 pages Check the publishers details for