Justin Torres is an American author and professor of creative writing. He is best known for his debut novel, We the Animals, which was published in 2011. The novel was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was adapted into a feature film in 2018. Torres was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in a Puerto Rican family. He attended the University of Iowa, where he earned an MFA in creative writing. After graduating, he taught at the University of Iowa, the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Minnesota. Torres has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Guardian, among other publications. His work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories and Best American Nonrequired Reading. He has also received numerous awards, including the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, the Lambda Literary Award, and the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award. Torres is currently a professor of creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also a member of the MacDowell Colony and the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35. His second novel, The King and the Kingdom, is due to be released in 2021.