2018 - 2020: Octavio Quintinilla

Born in Harlingen, TX, and having lived in Mexico till the age of nine, Octavio Quintanilla, Ph.D. has resided in San Antonio since the fall of 2013 when he began teaching in the MA/MFA program at Our Lady of the Lake University. Octavio attended Rio Grande schools, and after graduating from Weslaco High School, he earned his B.A. and an M.A. in English from the University of Texas-Pan American (now UT-RGV). After earning his M.A., and having taught high school English for six years, Octavio decided to return to school and earn his Ph.D. In 2010, Octavio graduated with a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of North Texas.

Octavio Quintanilla is the author of the poetry collection, If I Go Missing (Slough Press, 2014). His poetry, fiction, translations, and photography have appeared, or are forthcoming, in journals such as Salamander, RHINO, Alaska Quarterly Review, Pilgrimage, Green Mountains Review, Southwestern American Literature, The Texas Observer, Existere: A Journal of Art & Literature, and elsewhere. Reviews of his work can be found at CutBank Literary Journal, Concho River Review, San Antonio Express-News, American Microreviews & Interviews, Southwestern American Literature, Pleiades, and others.

Octavio is the regional editor for Texas Books in Review and serves on the board of Southwestern American Literature. He is also the poetry editor for the journal Latina Critical Feminism, and poetry editor of San Antonio's literature/art journal, Voices de la Luna. He serves as assistant editor to Empire Mongrel Press.