J. Ale Hakala is a poet and visual artist who uses language, photography, and tracing to explore human experience, existence, and connection to nature and history. She is formally trained and practices as a geoscientist, rides a snowboard, and lives with her family in Pittsburgh’s South Hills. Her poetry and art appeared previously in yawp Art+ Literary ‘Zine (Poetry Lounge Press, 2024-2025), and the Pittsburgh Poetry Collective 2025 Chapbook, with additional creative works published on Instagram @daybreakcarve and daybreakcarve.org.

From Mountains to the Sand is a collection of poems written by Ale over the past 25 years and represents her pursuit to understand the concept of “place” in the context of location and connection, as a result from frequent relocations during childhood, travel during training in science and boardercross, and the wild ride of growing a family. More recent experiences in Ale’s travel across the United States led to the development of new friendships, processing of evolving relationships with family (including her husband and children), and the unexpected wrestling through unresolved history. This collection is the result of a journey across growth and erosion and questioning what it means to exist and to love, with the ferocity of nature that enables the growth of mountains and their weathering into sand.