AJ Odasso's poetry, nonfiction, and short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies since 2005. Their first full-collection manuscript, Things Being What They Are, an earlier version of The Sting of It, was shortlisted for the 2017 Sexton Prize.  The Sting of It was published by Tolsun Books and won Best LGBT Book in the 2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards.  AJ holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University.  Currently a PhD candidate in Rhetoric & Writing at the University of New Mexico, they teach at UNM and Central New Mexico Community College.  They have served in the Poetry Department at Strange Horizons since 2012.