Alex Espinoza (he/him/his/they) is a queer writer with a disability. He was born in Tijuana Mexico––on Kumeyaay original lands––to Purepécha parents from the state of Michoacán and raised in Southern California, on Gabrieliño-Tongva land. In high school and afterwards, he worked a series of retail jobs, selling everything from eggs and milk to used appliances, custom furniture, rock T-shirts, and body jewelry. After graduating from the University of California-Riverside, he went on to earn an MFA from UC-Irvine’s Program in Writing. His first novel, Still Water Saints, was published by Random House in 2007 to wide critical acclaim and was named a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection. The book was released simultaneously in Spanish, under the title Los santos de Agua Mansa, California, translated by Lilliana Valenzuela. His second novel, The Five Acts of Diego León, was also published by Random House in March 2013 and won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. He is also the author of the nonfiction book Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime, published by the Unnamed Press in 2019. His newest novel, The Sons of El Rey, will be published by Simon and Schuster in June, 2024. 

Alex’s fiction has appeared in several anthologies and journals, including Inlandia: A Literary Journey Through California’s Inland Empire, The Southern California Review, Flaunt, and the Virginia Quarterly Review. His essays have been published at Salon.com, in the New York Times Magazine, in The Other Latin@: Writing Against a Singular Identity, in The Los Angeles Review of Books, and as part of the historic Chicano Chapbook Series. He has also reviewed books for the LA Times, the American Book Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and NPR. His awards include a 2009 Margaret Bridgeman Fellowship in Fiction to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, a 2014 Fellowship in Prose from the National Endowment for the Arts, a 2014 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for The Five Acts of Diego León, and a 2019 Fellowship from the MacDowell Colony. His newest book is Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime, which was published by The Unnamed Press in June, 2019. His newest novel, The Sons of El Rey, is forthcoming from Simon and Schuster.

An active participant in Sandra Cisneros’ Macondo Workshop and the Community of Writers,  Alex is deeply involved with the Puente Project, a program designed to help first-generation community college students make a successful transition to a university. A Puente student himself, he has since served as a Puente mentor and often visits Puente classes to talk with students and teachers about writing, literature, and the opportunities he gained through education. Alex lives in Los Angeles on Gabrieliño-Tongva land with his husband Kyle and teaches at the University of California, Riverside, within Tongva, Cahuilla, Luiseño & Serrano original lands, where he serves as the Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair and Professor of Creative Writing.