Brandon Sward is an artist and writer based in Pasadena, California. He recently completed his doctorate at the University of Chicago, where his research focused on race and representation. As a journalist, his main beats are contemporary art and Latino and LGBT issues. His words can be read in Hyperallergic, The Point, High Country News, and dozens of other local, national, and international publications. He is also the author of newsletter News from Nowhere. He has been nominated for several literary prizes, including the Pushcart, and has won many residencies, among them Byrdcliffe, the Wassaic Project, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. His work has been included in group exhibitions at the Smart Museum, Carr Center Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and elsewhere. His first solo show opened at Stone House Art Gallery in October 2021. He is currently seeking literary representation for an essay collection that explores growing up queer and biracial in Colorado Springs, the “Evangelical Vatican.”