AJ Odasso’s poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies since 2005. Their first full poetry collection, 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 in the 2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards. Their first novel, The Pursued and the Pursuing, will be published in September 2021 by DartFrog Blue, the traditional publishing imprint of DartFrog Books. AJ holds an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Boston University. They teach at University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College, and they have enjoyed participating in ABQ-local literary events at their synagogue and beyond. They have served as Senior Poetry Editor at Strange Horizons magazine since 2012.