John Manuel Arias

About

John Manuel Arias is a Costa Rican American poet and novelist whose writing explores family, memory, identity, and the complex legacies of history. A queer writer, he draws on his connections to Costa Rica to create richly atmospheric stories rooted in the country’s culture, landscapes, and social history. His poetry and prose have appeared in literary publications including The Rumpus, PANK, Joyland Magazine, and F(r)iction. Arias is a CantoMundo fellow and an alumnus of the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop, both of which support emerging literary voices. His debut novel, Where There Was Fire (2023), follows three generations of a Costa Rican family whose lives are transformed by a deadly fire, a disappearance, and the destructive influence of a powerful banana company. The novel combines family secrets and magical elements with a critique of corporate exploitation in Central America.