Jaime Cortez

Jaime Cortez is a California writer and visual artist who combines humor and tragedy to tell stories of resilient survivors living on the margins of the economy, the law, and social acceptability. Gordo, his 2021 debut short story collection, met with critical acclaim in The New York Times, NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, and Minneapolis Star-Tribune, among others. It was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award and longlisted for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence. It was named a “Best Book of the Year” at NPR and BookPage.
His writing and drawings have appeared in diverse publications including Kindergarde: Experimental Writing for Children (Black Radish Press), No Straight Lines, a 40-year compendium of LGBT comics (Fantagraphics Press), and Infinite Cities, an experimental atlas of San Francisco (UC Berkeley Press). He wrote and illustrated the graphic novel Sexile, about transgender activist Adela Vasquez.

His art has been exhibited at the Oakland Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Galería de la Raza, and Southern Exposure. He received his B.A. in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania, and MFA from UC Berkeley.