Justin Torres (born 1980) is an American novelist and an associate professor of English at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. He won the First Novelist Award for his semi-autobiographical debut novel '' We the Animals'' (2011), which was also an Edmund White Award finalist and an NAACP Image Award for Debut Author nominee. The novel has been adapted into a film of the same title and was awarded the Next Innovator Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. Torres' second novel, '' Blackouts'', won the 2023

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...

Early life

Justin Torres was born to a father of Puerto Rican descent and a mother of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and Irish descent. He was raised in Baldwinsville, New York, as the youngest of three brothers. Although his novel '' We the Animals'' is not an autobiography, Torres has said that the "hard facts" in the novel mirror his own life. ''City of God'' by Gil Cuadros, published in 1994, reportedly helped him to come out as gay. After leaving his family home, Torres attended

SUNY Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by G ...

on scholarship but quickly dropped out. He spent a few years of moving around in the country and taking whatever job came, until a friend invited him to sit in a writing course taught at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

, which motivated him to start writing seriously.

Career

In 2010, Torres received his master's degree from the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

. He was a 2010–2012 Stegner Fellow at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He was a recipient of the Rolón Fellowship in Literature from

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

. In the summer of 2016, Torres was the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

's Institute for American Studies in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Germany. He is a former dog walker and a former employee of

McNally Jackson McNally Jackson Books is an independent bookstore in New York City owned and operated since 2004 by Sarah McNally. The company operates five stores across the city in Soho, Rockefeller Center, Seaport, Downtown Brooklyn, and Williamsburg, as ...

, a bookstore in Manhattan. Torres is currently an associate professor of English at the

. He has published short fiction for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'', ''

Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', '' Tin House'', '' Glimmer Train'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and other publications, as well as non-fiction for ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. A film adaptation of '' We the Animals'', directed by Jeremiah Zagar, premiered in 2018 at the

, where it won the Next Innovator Prize.

Awards and honors

Torres' first novel, '' We the Animals'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), won an

Indies Choice Book Awards The Indies Choice Book Award (formerly known as Book Sense Book of the Year 2000-2008) is an American literary award that was inaugurated at BookExpo America 2000. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) rededicated the award (previously known ...

(Adult Debut Honor Award) and was also a

Publishing Triangle The Publishing Triangle, founded in 1988 by Robin Hardy, is an American association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing industry. They sponsor an annual National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, and have sponsored the annual Triangle Awards prog ...

Award finalist and an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

nominee (Outstanding Literary Work, Debut Author). The novel also won the 2012 First Novelist Award. Torres was named by

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

as one of the sexiest men of 2011. In 2012, the

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

named him among their " 5 Under 35" young fiction writers. His 2023 novel '' Blackouts'', a

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

dealing with queer identity and suppression of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

culture, won the 2023

and was shortlisted for the 2024

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to ...

and the 2024 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. In 2025, the novel made longlist for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

. Torres received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 2024.

Works

Novels

* *

Short stories

* * * * * *

Articles

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

Justin Torres
– website
Daniel Olivas interviews Justin Torres
''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

'', September 26, 2012.
"In Conversation , Justin Torres and Jenine Holmes"
''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is an American publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics, based in Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, critics, and ...

'', December 2011–January 2012.
Faculty profile
at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

's English Department
Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Justin 1980 births Living people 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American gay writers American LGBTQ novelists American male novelists Gay novelists National Book Award winners Puerto Rican male writers 21st-century Puerto Rican novelists Stegner Fellows The New Yorker people Puerto Rican male novelists