Mario Alejandro Ariza is a Dominican immigrant to the United States who grew up in Miami, Florida. He holds an an MFA in poetry from the University of Miami and a Master’s degree in Hispanic Cultural Studies from Columbia University. His poetry can be found in places like BOAAT, The Cincinnati Review, Gulf Coast, and The Raleigh Review. His journalism appears in places like The Atlantic and The Miami New Times. His non-fiction writing is forthcoming in The Baffler, and South of the South. His current project is a book-length nonfiction work on sea level rise and Miami titled Disposable City: Miami’s doom and how to avoid it, which is forthcoming from The Nation Books.