Mario Montoya is a teacher, writer, and MC, and the 2021 recipient of the Rudolfo Anaya Fellowship, honoring promising New Mexican authors. He’s a proud Burqueno (Albuquerque resident) where he received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico in July 2021. His work has appeared in books, anthologies, journals and websites. In 2021, his poem “Prayer for the Guilty” was published by Free Them All Poetry Series, next to the Spanish translation.

When he’s not teaching or writing, he’s doing Hip Hop or making tortillas. Or watching the Raiders lose while playing sad jazz on his record player when he should be grading.