about

Jean Velasco is a writer, translator, and EFL teacher from Naarm/Melbourne, who lives in Madrid.

In a previous life, she studied Science, Arts, and Modern Languages in her home city. Her subjects ranged from ‘Neuropharmacology’ to ‘Witches and Witch Hunting in Europe’, which inevitably led to a minor existential crisis and extensive experience in the hospitality industry.

Since moving abroad to teach English in 2011, she’s worked with students of all ages and levels (teens/retirees/white collar execs etc.) in various locations (village/town/metropolis).

Her debut personal essay, “How Not to Quench Your Thirst” was published in Growing Up Queer in Australia, by Black Inc. Books in 2019. Since then, her writing has appeared in various print and online journals, such as Kill Your Darlings, Going Down Swinging, and Overland.

In October 2020, she won the II Clara Campoamor writing prize for the district of Retiro, with her speculative fiction short story, “Néctar”.

In no particular order, some of her creative inspirations include Alejandro Zambra, Carmen Maria Machado, Elizabeth Tan, Cher Tan, Mona Awad, Brandon Taylor, Paul Murray, Suki Kim, Eley Williams, Shaun Tan, William Robinson, Graeme Base, Alison Lester, Guy Delisle, George Orwell, Walter Tevis, Ted Chiang, Fernanda Melchor, Andrea Abreu, the ones in the sidebar on the left, and many, many more…