Carissa Halston is a fiction writer of Syrian, Mvskoke (Muscogee), and European heritage. Pronouns do not determine her gender. She currently lives on occupied land that rightfully belongs to the people of the Muh-he-con-neok and the Kanien’kehá:ka nations.

Halston is the recipient of a Holmes Memorial Award and a Willow Springs Fiction Prize, and her stories have been published most recently in The Massachusetts Review, Mizna, and The Normal School, among others. She’s also received honors and grants from The Cincinnati Review, The Writers’ Room of Boston, The Wesleyan Writers Conference, and elsewhere.

She has worked as a writer, editor, and publisher, but before all else, she’s always been a reader.