Elena Montes is a Costa Rican-American poet, fiction writer, and artist with a passion for exploring the emotional and psychological landscapes that shape who we are as individuals. 

She grew up splitting time between her parents' residences in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Inglewood and on the Westside of LA. After moving to New York, Elena attended Sarah Lawrence College, earning a bachelor's in the liberal arts and immersing herself in the studies of creative writing, philosophy, and race theory. There, she was awarded the 2024 Andrea Klein Wilson Award for Poetry for two poems appearing in her debut collection, Wishbones. 

In her work, Elena explores themes of memory, family, relationships, and loss, employing a hybrid style that redefines the boundaries of genre. She is driven by a desire to challenge conventional forms and create work that lives in the in-between— between genres, between image and text, between what's said and what's left unsaid.