About K.J.

When I was a kid, I wrote fan fiction…

I wrote stories about dragons and magic, and little kids who were sorta strange but who could be heroes anyways. I was so embarrassed that I’d rip up my pages and stuff them down the bathroom sink. No joke.

It wasn’t until my 30s, struggling to remain employed through mental illness, that I realized I was a writer. Of course, because I’m an overachiever, I started with a novel.

Today, I have 5 completed drafts, dozens of articles and essays, and my cat likes to sit on my laptop. I haven’t returned to fan fiction but I hope one day maybe some little kid will write their own fan fiction from my stories.

I have an (un)healthy obsession with dragons, espresso, and fantasy TV.

I write mostly about mental illness, and believe every character should tell their own stories, not ‘despite’ or ‘because of,’ but rather, just as they are.

Professional Bio

K. J. Aiello is a Toronto-based mentally ill award-winning writer. K.J.’s work, including essays, op-eds, and book reviews has been featured in The Walrus, The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, THIS Magazine, Toronto Life, The Loop, Room Magazine, and others. K.J. holds a BA Honours from the University of Toronto, with specializations in political science, neuroscience, and psychology, all of which inform K.J.’s writing. K. J. is currently working on a book of nonfiction, The Monster and the Mirror, which explores the intersection of speculative fiction and mental illness told through a memoir lens. The Monster and the Mirror will be published by ECW Press with an expected release in fall 2024.

Pronouns: (K.J./them)