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Avery C. Castillo is a Mexican American, chronically ill poet, artist, and editor from the Rio Grande Valley. She is passionate about the connection between literary arts, creative expression, and education that celebrates lived experiences which connect us all together. Her work is fueled by lived experiences with a childhood autoimmune illness and life-long chronic pain and its invisibility. Her writing and art focuses on bringing awareness to the unique experience of living with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), diagnosed at the age of four and persisting into adulthood.

 

Avery currently lives in the RGV and plans to continue her education in creative writing and feminist theory to curate and bring greater engagement with literary and creative expression in her community. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Texas Tech University. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. In 2025, she was awarded with a picture book mentorship with We Need Diverse Books for her children's book on the JIA experience.