juj e. lepe is a Mexican-American poet from Northern California. They were awarded the 2026 Wisconsin People & Ideas Poetry Prize, selected by Brenda Cárdenas. Their poems are featured or forthcoming in New Delta Review, American Literary Review, Ninth Letter, and Shō Poetry Journal, among other publications. juj has received support from Blue Mountain Center, the Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where they earned an MFA in Poetry. Their chapbook, Your Name Means Solitude, was selected by francine j. harris for the 2026 Robert Phillips Chapbook Prize (Texas Review Press, 2027).

juj is a freelance writer, editor, curator, illustrator, film photographer, and lover of small hand-bound books. They live in Chicago.