a.j. ortega
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Fiction:​
  • "El Feo." Scarlet Leaf Review. September 2021.
  • "San Armando." The Broadkill Review. July 2021.
  • "The Last Ride." The Loch Raven Review. Spring 2021.
 
Poetry:​
  • "El Bigotón or: What I Think of When I Smell Freshly Cut Grass." Lit Shark Magazine. TBA.
  • "It's about you and the highway." Lit Shark Magazine. TBA.
  • "Like Evolution." The Broadkill Review. Spring 2023.
  • "The White Buffalo." Rising Phoenix Review. February 2023.
  • "Ash Wednesday." Literary Yard. January 2023.
  • "Communion." Door is a Jar Magazine. Issue 19, Summer 2021. 
  • "Please Remember When You Drowned Me." Rat's Ass Review. Summer 2021. 
  • "The Bride." Dreich Magazine. July 2021.
  • "Morse Code." Dreich Magazine. July 2021.
  • "The Original Eight Colonies." Dreich Magazine. July 2021.​ 
  • "The Gift Bug." Poetry Quarterly. Fall 2020. 
  • "I kept you in a jar." Rio Grande Review. Spring 2010.

Book Reviews:
  • Review of Rolando Hinojosa’s A Voice of My Own. American Book Review. June 2012.
  • Review of Jimmy Santiago Baca's Selected Poems. Front Porch Journal. October 2009.  
  • Review of Federico García Lorca's Poet in New York. Front Porch Journal. April 2009.
  • Review of Literary El Paso. Southwestern American Literature. Fall 2009.​

Podcast Appearances:
  • Voxpopcast. Episode 241: Wakanda Forever and MCU Diversity. November 2022. 
  • Voxpopcast. Episode 96: Mask Theory. February 2020. 
  • Voxpopcast. Episode 90: Why Do Awards Shows Suck? January 2020.
  • Voxpopcast. Episode 48: Cinema vs. Streaming. March 2019.
  • The Jay Ram Show. Episode 21: My Holy Week, Wrestlemania 32. April 2016.
  • History Slam Episode Sixty: Studying Professional Wrestling. April 2015.

Academic Conferences:​
  • “Keep Moving Forward: Mexicanness in the Sport of Boxing.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. April 2019.
  • “Dead at the Feet of Mother Ayahuasca.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. April 2019.
  • “These Kids Get Me: A Narrative of Video Teaching Demonstrations in a Hiring Process.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. March 2019. (co-presenter)
  • “Pressures and Opportunities for Mentoring New Colleagues in Teaching-Intensive Colleges.” Two-Year College English Association National Conference. March 2019. (roundtable presenter)
  • “The Orange Elephant in the Room: An Analysis of Trump’s Influence on Professional Wrestling.” Southern Sociological Society Conference. April 2018.
  • “Professional Wrestling’s Politics in Flux.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. March 2018.
  • “The Lucha Libre Mask, Mexican American Theater, and Cultural Identity.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. April 2017.
  • “Wrestling on the Border of the New America and Old Mexico: Deconstructing Lucha Underground’s Mexican American Aesthetics.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. March 2016.
  • “How to Earn Your (Zebra) Stripes: The Role of the Professional Wrestling Referee.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. April 2015. 
  • “Viva La Raza: Grappling with the Advancement of Mexicans in American Wrestling.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. April 2014.
  • “Breaking the Fourth Wall: WWE’s ‘Reality Era’ and the Age of the Internet.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. March 2013. 
  • “From Barthes to Bodyslams: Professional Wrestling’s Success Through Creating and Subverting Stereotypes.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. April 2012. 
  • “The More You Say Means Less Airplay: The Importance of Storytelling in Rap Music.” National Popular Culture Association Conference. April 2011. 
  • “Deconstructing J.J. Abrams’ Lost Narrative.” Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association Conference. February 2010. 
  • “Alexie, the Audience, and the Appetite.” Native American Literature Symposium. February 2009. 

Newspaper / Web articles:
  • “Author combines words and images to create reality.” Victoria Advocate. November 2017.
  • “Author evokes memories of people and place.” Victoria Advocate. April 2017.
  • “Never give up, especially in Texas.” Victoria Advocate. December 2015.
  •  Interview with Read to Write Stories. November 2015. 
  • “Writer’s work is like a shot of adrenaline.” Victoria Advocate. February 2015.
  • “Book series’ speaker preserves culture, history.” Victoria Advocate. September 2014.
  • “Author no stranger to honest, important writing.” Victoria Advocate. April 2014.
  • ​“Author describes rocky road to Hollywood.” Victoria Advocate. March 2014. 
  • “La Peña Gathers Support for Local Latino Artists.” Center for Mexican American Culture Arts. April 2011.
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