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Exploring Immigrant Issues Through Fiction With Orlando Ortega-Medina

In these last few years, immigrant issues have been a huge topic of discussion in the United States. People flee from war-torn countries, immigrants facing discrimination, and banning certain nationalities ...from entering the country have sparked endless debate. Author Orlando Ortega-Medina wanted to shed light on the challenges he went through as an immigrant himself by writing a fiction novel that reflects his non-fiction story. He joins Corinna Bellizzi to talk about his book The Fitful Sleep of Immigrant, which narrates the trials and tribulations of an immigrant in San Francisco during the late 90s. Orlando talks about his current life in London, the importance of authors seeking professional editing, and the reason he writes about tough subjects.

About Guest:
Orlando Ortega-Medina was born in Los Angeles to Sephardic immigrants from Cuba. He studied English Literature at UCLA and has a Juris Doctor law degree from Southwestern University School of Law. At university, he won the National Society of Arts and Letters Award for Short Stories.

Ortega-Medina’s short story collection Jerusalem Ablaze was shortlisted for The Polari First Book Prize (2017). In 2018, he was named the Marilyn Hassid Emerging Author for the Houston Jewish Book & Arts Festival. He is also the author of three novels, The Death of Baseball (2019), The Savior of 6th Street (2020), and The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants (2023). Ortega-Medina lives in London, England, where he practices law and writes fiction.

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-ortega-medina-046a1820b
Guest Website: https://orlandoortegamedina.co.uk/
Guest Social: https://www.instagram.com/sadot_medina, https://www.facebook.com/orlandoortegamedina, https://www.tiktok.com/@orlandoortegamedina
Additional Resources Mentioned: https://orlandoortegamedina.co.uk/the-fitful-sleep-of-immigrants/

Show Notes:
00:00 - Introduction
03:47 - Orlando’s origin story
05:39 - Writing about heavy topics
12:27 - Cultural difference between the US and the UK
18:09 - A mix of fiction and non-fiction
22:17 - Importance of an editor and book cover choice
27:05 - Choosing the topics to write about
30:16 - Looking back
34:10 - Thought on Twitter, social media, and online culture
38:29 - Final Words

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