Ms. Ortiz holds a Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from The Solstice Creative Writing Program at Pine Manor College and is a writer and poet. She co-edited All About Skin: Short Fiction by Women of Color (the University of Wisconsin Press, 2014) with writer and editor, Rochelle Spencer. Her short story, “Maribel y El Viejo,” was published in the anthology, Daring to Write: Contemporary Writings by Dominican Women (University of Georgia Press, 2016) She has numerous poems published in poetry and literary journals and magazines. She also has a limited edition of her chapbook, FIVE POEMS (Damfino Press, 2016). She is one of the co-editors with Rochelle Spencer and Serena Jones of the anthology, STEAM: Brilliant People on the Intersections of Science and Art, and is represented by literary agent and writer Kima Jones, for this anthology manuscript.
Her poetry has been published in the Sahara, Afro-Hispanic Review, Calabash, Poui, New Millennium Writings, Green Mountains Review, The Caribbean Writer and New Works Review, Solstice Literary Magazine, and The Worcester Review, amongst others. Her current poetry writing projects include two poetry manuscripts, Miss Universe and Sugarcanes. These are two poetry collections currently being sent out to potential publishers.
In addition to writing poetry, she is currently revising a middle-grade fiction novel titled Campo Girl, which won a grant from The Highlights Foundation and a scholarship to attend the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature. Jina Ortiz also has a cookbook proposal titled: El Conuco Sefardi: The Dominican Kasher Kitchen, co-written with Kasher Sephardi Dominican Chef, Hanna Abreu.
She has received residency fellowships from the Art Omi/Ledig House International Writers’ Residency, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts(VCCA), CAMAC Centre D’Art / Marnay Art Centre in Marnay Sur Seine, France, The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow, Vermont Studio Center, and Can Serrat Residency in Barcelona, Spain, amongst other residencies. She also received grants from the Worcester Cultural Council and The Highlights Foundation. She is also the Founder and Creator of The Dragonfly Writers Retreat at the HeartWell Institute. When she is not writing books of poetry and prose (fiction and nonfiction), painting, or collaborating on multifaceted creative projects, Jasmine Jina Ortiz is the Founder, Principal, and Broker Realtor® of HestiaLiving® Corporation, a real estate firm.