Biography

John Rember was born in Sun Valley, Idaho, and grew up in the nearby Sawtooth Valley. His mother was a nurse at Sun Valley Hospital and his father drove ski bus and worked as a miner, fishing and hunting guide, trapper, and mechanic. John was educated at Harvard and earned his MFA at the University of Montana. He has worked as a ski patrolman, wilderness ranger, technical writer, concrete and construction worker, high school teacher, bartender, journalist, and professor. He taught for many years at The College of Idaho in Caldwell and in the Pacific University MFA program in Forest Grove, Oregon.

John’s latest book, A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of the World (University of New Mexico, 2020) is a meditation on teaching, writing, and friendship in an increasingly fragile world. His other books are MFA in a Box: A Why to Write Book (Dream of Things, 2010), his memoir Traplines: Coming Home to Sawtooth Valley (Vintage 2004, Pantheon 2003), and three short story collections: Sudden Death, Over Time (Wordcraft of Oregon, 2012), Cheerleaders from Gomorrah: Tales from the Lycra Archipelago (Confluence, 1994) and Coyote in the Mountains (Limberlost, 1989). John has also written numerous articles, stories, essays, and columns for publications ranging from Travel and Leisure to Wildlife Conservation to High Desert Journal to The Huffington Post.

John lives in Sawtooth Valley with his wife, Julie.