Joseph Ross Angelella
Joseph Ross Angelella is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter and professor. He is the author of the irreverent and twisted coming-of-age novel Zombie (2012). His short fiction has been anthologized in Eight Very Bad Nights (2024) and appeared in various journals, including Hunger Mountain, Sou’wester, The Literary Review, Coachella Review, and Southampton Review. His original screenplays have won numerous film festival awards and are currently in various stages of development. He teaches creative writing at the University of Maryland College Park where he directs Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House, a literary center for the study of creative writing across cultures and languages. Additionally, he serves as screenwriting faculty in the Electronic Media & Film department at Towson University. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Kate, and two kids, Geno and Lily.
NOVELS
Zombie from Soho Press (2012)
SHORT FICTION
“Mi Shebeirach” in Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir (2024)
“Wheelwoman“ in Close to the Bone (2022)
“The Room of Ransom Black“ in MicroLit Almanac (2022)
“Light Like Gunshots” in Close to the Bone (2020)
“A Good Hour” in Failbetter (2020)
“The Hammer and the Flame” in Kelp Journal (2020)
“Does She” in Southampton Review (2019)
“Horse and His Fishermen” in Textshop Experiments (2019)
SCREENPLAYS IN DEVELOPMENT
Nemesis – Pinot Pictures (in-development), Dark Comedy/Drama (15 pages)
GSM, 1983! (Goon Squad Motherfuckers, 1983!) – Strong Pictures (in-development), Action/Horror (121 pages)
WRITING AWARDS
Kill These Trolls! – Winner, “Best Characters in a Screenplay,” Baltimore Next Media Web Fest (2022)
Nemesis – Winner, “Best Dark Comedy Short Script,” Houston Comedy Film Festival (2020)
“Sauce” – Winner, Best Short Fiction, Coachella Review (2012)
TEACHING AWARDS
2024-2025 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars Faculty Mentor Award – Winner, University of Maryland College Park (2024)
Professional Track Faculty Teaching Award – Winner, University of Maryland College Park, Department of English (2019)
PAPERS, PODCASTS & PRESENTATIONS
Presentation | “The Line up with Soho Crime: Celebration of Hanukkah Noir” hosted by Tod Goldberg with JR Angelella, Nikki Dolson, and Lee Goldberg | Mystery To Me Books & Soho Crime Line-Up (2024)
Presentation & Paper | Negotiating Gun Violence in Student Screenplays: Teaching Young Writers to Examine and Develop Characters’ Unknown Needs in Zero Drafts; or How to Fight ‘Cool Characters Wielding Weapons’ with Empathy and Understanding | University Film & Video Conference (2023)
Podcast | “With Violence All Around Us, What Does It Actually Mean For a Book To Be a Crime Novel? (51-minute mark) | LitHub’s Literary Disco (2022)
Presentation | Lit Flicks Binge Fest: Bosch Season 6 | University of California Riverside (2020)
ACADEMIA
Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House | Director & Faculty, College of Arts & Humanities, University of Maryland College Park (2023 – Current)
Department of Electronic Media & Film | Faculty, College of Fine Arts & Communications, Towson University (2016 – Current)
Trio Upward Bound Math & Science Summer Program | Faculty, Baltimore City Community College (2024 – Current)
AUTHOR COACHING & EDITING
J.R. ANGELELLA 