Hi, I’m Elison. Maybe you knew that already. Maybe you didn’t. Either way, I’m going to tell you some stuff about myself now.

Growing up, writing meant filling my journals with really stupid poems, stories, and character sketches, but I never knew it was something you could actually pursue. So I graduated with a degree in business and went to try and make some money. After a decade of that, with both my soul and my bank account feeling empty (my bank account a little more so), I decided to get my graduate degree in creative writing at Sacramento State.

That decision changed my life. Not only did it really (really, really) drain the remaining cents from my bank account, but I met my wife in the first creative writing class I ever took and began to live a life that had more meaning. I’ve now written a book, The Evolution of Love, and I have been published in several places, including Best Small Fictions 2020, The Rumpus, Under the Gum Tree, Santa Monica Review, and Rattle, to name a few. But more than that, I’ve been able to connect in meaningful ways with other human beings, including the over 15,000 followers of my Instagram writing account (@elisonwrites).

I hope that’s what you’ll find here and in my writing. Even though we probably have never met, we have more that unites us than separates us, and I hope we can forge a connection using only words and a reliable internet connection.

Oh, the corny last sentence I’m supposed to include. Let’s see. I live in Sacramento, CA with my wife and daughter, and when I am not writing, I am chastising myself for not writing. Also, I once thought I’d be the first Filipino in the NBA.