Leo Cardez is a Mexican American US Army veteran, person in custody writer-vist raised on the streets of the Southside of Chicago. Leo’s drama has been published in an anthology by Haymarket Books, and produced in Chicago, New York City, and Las Vegas. His poetry has appeared in scores of literary magazines and anthologies, including The Body Open Source: Anthology on Being Human in the Age of AI (Midwest Writing Center), and Tadpole Press; and elsewhere. His creative nonfiction has been featured in Michigan Quarterly Review and nominated for a Pushcart and Best American Essays. Leo’s reporting has been published in Inquest, MindsiteNews, NYU Review of Law and Social Justice, among others. He recently won an SPJ Stillwater Award. Leo is currently buried in a human warehouse on the fringes of society, you can reach him at [email protected]
Winner, 2022 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – 2nd Place in Nonfiction Essay for “Convict Chronicles: Cooking“
Winner, 2025 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – 3rd Place in Drama for “Just Another Day at the Zoo II”
