Joël Tan was born in 1968 in Manila. He is the editor of Queer PAPI Porn, which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, and the author of the poetry collection Monster. His writing appears in Q&A: Queer in Asian America, On a Bed of Rice: An Asian American Erotic Feast, and Flippin: Filipinos on America. He currently works for the Orange County AIDS Services Foundation and lives in Los Angeles.