Rachel Lastra's stories have appeared in The Missouri Review, Okay Donkey, the Bridport Prize Anthology 2023, Barrelhouse, Smokelong Quarterly, and elsewhere. Her work has been longlisted in the Wigleaf Top 50 (in 2025 and 2026) and nominated for Best Microfiction 2026. She has an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family, where she is working on a novel.