Alissa Jones Nelson has published several short stories, and her work has won or been shortlisted for more than a dozen international prizes. Most recently, her story “Al-Watan” received a Highly Commended award in the 2019 Bridport Prize, and her story “Chop Chop” was a winner of the 2022 Vocal+ Fiction Awards. Alissa particularly loves writing difficult characters and strangling every binary she can get her hands on. She’s heavily involved in the literary scene in Berlin and was also selected to participate in the 2021 Tin House YA Workshop with Mark Oshiro.Alissa works as a freelance writer, editor, and translator. She grew up in Southern California and holds a PhD in religion and politics from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. She has lived in six countries, speaks two and a half languages, and dreams of someday (just once!) having the lap lane at the community pool all to herself. Learn more about her work here.Photographer credit: Jan Radtke
