tina ontiveros is a writer, teacher, and bookseller based in the Pacific Northwest. she was raised below the federal poverty line, living mostly with her single mother at the edge of the Oregon desert, but often with her constantly migrating dad in small timber towns around the Pacific Northwest. today, tina lives at the bottom of Mt. Hood and teaches writing and literature at Columbia Gorge Community College.

tina is the first person in her family to go to college and she completed her college education while raising her children. after community college she earned her BA in Literature at Marylhurst University, then her MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Goddard College. she worked for over 10 years at Oregon’s oldest bookstore.

as a writer and a teacher, tina’s work explores class, generational hardship, and the social constructs that marginalize the poor. her essay, The Life We Pay For, was a top ten most read of 2019 Oregon Humanities Magazine feature. her memoir, rough house, was released from OSU Press in Fall 2020. rough house is a October 2020 Indie Next Great Read. rough house spent 20 weeks on the PNBA Bestseller’s List and has been awarded the PNBA Book Award.

photo by Sol Ontiveros