Laura Vena is a writer, translator, teacher, animal activist, and editor whose work has appeared in Bombay Gin, Super Arrow, Tarpaulin Sky, In Posse Review, The Dirty Fabulous, Antennae and elsewhere. She is the winner of the 1913 Press First Book Prize by John Keene for her manuscript, X/SHE: STARDRAPED (1913 Press, 2018) and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Debra di Blasi for an excerpt from the same book. Laura holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Critical Studies from CalArts. She is interested in works of a fantastic nature, as well as those that investigate the ethical and aesthetic considerations of representation. Laura is the Co-founding Editor of the art and text journal Two If By Sea (coming soon), Fiction Editor at Entropy Magazine, and Founder and Creative Director of Blockhead Brigade, an organization that seeks to help Pit Bull type dogs & their families in need.