Spotlight: Z. Gonzalez

Four seemingly disparate characters scattered across the globe, all brought together by an art-smuggling ring concealing something far more sinister, their story unfolding in non-linear fashion across different points of time and from different points of view. These are the makings of Eye of the Covenant, an exciting dystopian fiction novel being written by UHM English major Z. Gonazlez with the support of UROP Project funding.

“I spent my childhood moving around the mainland, being exposed to different types of stories. I knew I wanted to be a writer since I was eleven,” shared Z. After relocating to Maui for high school, she chose to attend UHM to remain close to her family, declaring English as her major and joining the Honors program. Her Honors thesis now doubles as her UROP Project and is being written under the mentorship of Professor Todd Sammons in the Department of English.

“Z. took a course from me, English 321: Backgrounds of Western Literature, during which she and a classmate wrote a wonderful series of vignettes featuring pairs of characters from Homer’s epic poems that was so good I nominated it and it was selected to be part of ‘English Represents!,’ a showcase every spring of excellent writing from every level of our undergraduate curriculum,” Sammons said. “I have taught a great many courses over the years that include fiction, and one of the genres that I started reading quite young is speculative fiction, including utopian and dystopian fiction, which may be one of the reasons Z. asked me to be her mentor, as her novel is—or at least adjacent to—that genre,” he continued.

Eye of the Covenant draws inspiration from a diverse blend of Z.’s literary interests and influences, which include dystopian fiction, magical realism, the histories of the Cold and Vietnam Wars (especially as narrated in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried), and the ways governments wield narrative to maintain power. “I’m interested in the structures of power that exist around us, how they shape our choices and the conception of the self,” she said, adding, “History never becomes irrelevant, which is why it’s important to understand it.”

Having embarked on several previous creative-writing projects and taken a half dozen creative-writing courses offered by the Department of English, Z. commenced work on Eye of the Covenant by conducting an analysis, with Dr. Sammons’ help, of different works of dystopian fiction. The analysis, which covered some of Z.’s favorite novels, including the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, aimed to typify and describe the genre’s major themes and structural tropes so that Z. could choose, as she was drafting her own novel, which elements to embrace and to subvert. “Dystopian fiction became a popular YA genre when I was growing up, so I see a lot of influence from it within my own work,” Z. explained. “I’m now interested in writing dystopian fiction for my age group—for the people who grew up with similar stories. I think it’s only grown more relevant with our current political climate,” she stated.

Her analysis of the dystopian-fiction genre complete, Z. set a goal of completing roughly ten chapters, or 100 pages, of Eye of the Covenant over the course of her UROP Project period. To accomplish this, she sets a weekly writing plan that accounts for the amount of time and energy she can invest into the work. “Putting a rigid schedule on it is tricky,” she shared, “but I have marked out various deadlines with my mentor that keep me on track. A lot of the time, the work takes me to surprising places, and I’ve learned it’s better to let myself go with its flow.”

Z. is well on her way to accomplishing her writing goals, and a key factor in her success to this point has been the community of professors and fellow students in the English Department with whom she has exchanged support. “I’m lucky to have a lot of incredible and passionate writers around me,” said Z. “We’ve built a real community with each other, spending time swapping ideas and helping each other with our projects. In many ways, the writing process requires collaboration, and it’s a blessing to have people take care of my work and hold excitement for it.”

Dr. Sammons explained his mentorship: “[Our] meetings usually consist of Z. [and me talking] about writers she or I know about who might provide help with the craft of the kind of novel that she’s working on…Z. also will have the support of one of my creative writing colleagues, Professor Kristiana Kahakauwila, from whom she has already taken a creative writing class and from whom she is also taking another one this spring semester.”

Looking ahead, Z. plans to pursue a master’s degree after graduation and ultimately aims to finish and publish her novel. She aspires to continue writing and teaching creative fiction at the university level, but is keenly aware of a major force that is redefining the making of art, will continue to do so into the future, and that has been woven into her own novel as a theme. “[Artificial intelligence] is changing the way we think about art,” Z. said, elaborating, “It’s turning us further toward a mindset of fast-paced consumption. While I don’t expect it to go away, I do think it’s important to remember the reasons why we make art—to express something of ourselves. Such expression doesn’t come from the end product itself but the process of creating it. Nothing can really replace that.”

As Z. and other artists of her generation continue to make sense of AI’s implications for their work, so too will they continue to hone their craft and parse the human experience for meaning, at scales both intimate and global. “Z. has real talent as a creative writer,” said Dr. Sammons, citing Z.’s many strengths, which include a “strong work ethic, impressive attention to detail, [and a] willingness to ask questions to make sure that she understands what she is supposed to be doing.” She is exactly the kind of young creative UROP is proud to support, and hopefully many more of UHM’s student artists explore UROP funding as a means of supporting their projects.