EACH YEAR WE HONOR AND LEARN FROM DEBUT AUTHORS IN four annual features—our debut poets roundup, First Fiction, the New Nonfiction, and 5 Over 50—all designed to tell the unique stories of notable first books: the inspiration behind them, the process of writing them, the, a milestone she achieved, I might add, a bit earlier than those in my age group. Which underscores one of the points we’re trying to make with our debut features: every writer on their own path, at their own pace, in their own time. One of the debut authors featured in this issue, Alma García, whose novel, , was published in October, shares some wisdom she learned on the path to her own milestone: “When you come to the end of something… whether or not it’s how you hoped it might end, no matter your age when you arrive, you know what you have? A beginning—one that’s as mysterious and wild and wide-open as you want it to be.”
