AJ Odasso (born 1981) is an American queer, intersex, nonbinary author and poet with a published career dating back to 2005. They are also a six-time Hugo nominee in the Semi-Prozine category in their capacity as Senior Poetry Editor for the speculative fiction magazine, ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

''. An English Faculty member at

San Juan College San Juan College is a public community college in Farmington, New Mexico. Founded in 1956 as a branch of the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, San Juan College became an independent community college following a county electi ...

, Odasso holds a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree in Creative Writing from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, and they are currently enrolled in the Rhetoric & Writing

doctoral program A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

Writing career

Odasso began their published career in 2005 while an undergraduate at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

, since then producing poetry, nonfiction, and short stories for magazines and anthologies. Their poetry has been published in ''

Sybil's Garage ''Sybil's Garage'' was a speculative fiction, poetry, and art journal, published by Senses Five Press. Issues one through six were released as a small press magazine, or zine. Issue seven was released in trade paperback format. The publication co ...

, Mythic Delirium,

Midnight Echo The Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) is a non-profit organisation that commenced in 2003 with the goal of providing a unified voice and sense of community for Australian writers of dark fiction ( horror and dark fantasy) and to furthe ...

Not One of Us ''Not One Of Us'' is a small press horror and science fiction magazine published in Massachusetts, USA, four times a year. The first issue appeared in October 1986. The theme is "people or things out of place in their surroundings": outsiders, ...

, Dreams & Nightmares,

Liminality In anthropology, liminality () is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they w ...

, Stone Telling, Farrago’s Wainscot, Battersea Review, Barking Sycamores, Goblin Fruit'' and ''New England Review of Books''. Solo collections include: ''Lost Books'' (

Flipped Eye Publishing Founded in 2001 by Nii Ayikwei Parkes and J. A. Parkes, flipped eye publishing is a company that publishes original poetry and prose on a not-for-profit model. The not-for-profit approach has allowed flipped eye to focus on new writers with poten ...

), published 2010, ''The Dishonesty of Dreams'' (Flipped Eye Publishing), published 2014, and ''The Sting of It'' (Tolsun Books), published 2019, originally shortlisted for the 2017 Sexton Prize as ''Things Being What They Are''. They have also published a historical fiction novel, ''The Pursued and the Pursuing'' (DartFrog Blue), a continuation of ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...

''. Odasso is also Senior Poetry Editor for

, a weekly speculative fiction and non-fiction magazine, where they have worked since 2012.

Personal life

Currently living in New Mexico, Odasso holds a

degree in Creative Writing from

. They are a full-time English Faculty member at

and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

candidate in Rhetoric & Writing at the

. They are

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...

, identifying as

pansexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofl ...

and

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

. They are also Jewish and on the autism spectrum.

Awards

Solo works

*''Lost Books'': 2010 London New Poetry Award nominee; 2010/2011 The People's Book Prize winner, Fiction Category, Winter 2010 *''Things Being What They Are'': 2017 Sexton Prize shortlist *''The Sting of It'': 2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award winner, Gay/Lesbian (GLBT) category *''The Pursued and the Pursuing'': 2021 Reads Rainbow Award, 2nd Place, Historical Fiction category

Strange Horizons Senior Poetry Editor

* Hugo Award Finalist, Semi-Prozine category, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022

References

External links

* , including CV, links, reviews, and contact information. {{DEFAULTSORT:Odasso, AJ Non-binary writers American LGBT writers LGBT poets Living people People on the autism spectrum Queer writers Intersex writers Transgender writers Intersex non-binary people Transgender non-binary people 21st-century American poets 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American Jews Jewish American writers Transgender Jews 1981 births Pansexual non-binary people