Joel Worford is a writer and musician from Richmond, Virginia. His work appears in TriQuarterly, Hayden's Ferry Review, Laurel Review, Chestnut Review and other places. His short story "The Word" was named a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories 2023, and his story "No Clubs" appears in Best Small Fictions 2024. When he's not absolutely killing it, Joel likes to take long walks by the Iowa River while listening to Jeff Buckley. Sometimes it's D'Angelo, sometimes it's Stevie Wonder. Joel also loves tennis, and chess, though he's no Beth Harmon. You can pretty much always talk to him about Game of Thrones, Toni Morrison, 2000s pop music, tennis, language as an instrument, and hot wings. He'll graduate from the Iowa Writers' Workshop this spring :)