Alissa Tu (she/her) is a Vietnamese American writer, dancer, and beauty pageant princess, originally from Olympia, Washington and currently in San Diego. She received her MFA in Writing from UC San Diego and debuted her experimental memoir Confessions of a Modern Day Kumiho (2023) with Blue Cactus Press. Her work hinges on play, curiosity, and tenderness to soak the reader into her writing. Her experiments can be found in Honey Literary, diaCRITICS, and Fruitslice. Alissa has graciously and joyfully received a grant from the William Male Foundation to create Bus Tickets, a chapbook that explores and “tenderfies” San Diego’s public transportation.