Vickie Vértiz was born and raised in Bell Gardens, a suburb of East LA. Her writing explores the intersections of feminism, identity, and Latino sub-cultures through everyday beauty. She is a VONA alumna and earned a Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship as an MFA candidate at the University of California, Riverside. Her writing is widely anthologized, found in publications such as Open the Door, a teaching guide from McSweeney’s and The Poetry Foundation. Her poetry collection, Swallows was released in 2013 by Finishing Line Press.