How can we deeply connect to others when people don’t fit cleanly into the boxes we’re meant to subscribe to and find belonging within? Aspen Pleasant seeks to answer this question, and others like it, in his non-fiction and fiction works. He's been published in Epistemic Literary, Stone of Madness Press, Vine Leaves Press, and Love as a Portal placed as finalist in the 2026 SunSpot Lit Inception Contest.