A.J. Chilson was born in Dallas, Texas in 1984. For years, he has performed his poetry at open-mics and slams in and around the Collin County (Texas) area. In 2010, Chilson finished second at the McKinney (Texas) Poetry Slam championship. Aside from writing and performing poetry, Chilson has also written opinion letters to a variety of newspapers, and has even had a letter published in People magazine. Currently, he lives in Princeton, Texas.