A.J. Ortega is a writer from Texas. He lives in Utah where he teaches college English. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in ​Poetry Quarterly, Rio Grande Review, Front Porch Journal, American Book Review, Dreich Magazine, The Texas Review, and other journals and websites. He is working on his first collection of short stories about working class people living in and around El Paso, Texas. He is the producer and host of Writers and Fighters: A Podcast. ​