Joel Mauricio Isabel Ortiz was born in 1987 in Colombia but raised in Norrköping, Sweden. He works as a writer, playwright, actor, and director. He studied at Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts and Ballet Academy in Gothenburg. In 2018, he published his debut novel Sången om en son (The Song of a Son). Ortiz has been working as a dramaturge at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern since 2021.