Joseph Rein is the author of the short story collection Roads without Houses (2018), which was nominated for numerous literary prizes. His short fiction has appeared in over twenty journals, magazines, and anthologies worldwide, and has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is also a screenwriter and critical essayist. His second feature-length film, Who Killed Cooper Dunn? (2022), was featured on Showtime and other streaming platforms. He wrote, produced, and acted in multiple other short festival films, and has two feature-length projects in pre-production. He is currently a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. When not writing or reading, he can be found hiking with his wife Jessica, playing cribbage, or recovering from various small injuries inflicted by his four children.