Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, ''
Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most successful novel, ''
Tree of Smoke'' (2007), won the
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 ...
. Johnson was twice shortlisted for the
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
. Altogether, Johnson was the author of nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, three collections of poetry, two collections of plays, and one book of reportage.
His final work, a book of short stories titled ''
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden'', was published posthumously in 2018.
Early years
Denis Johnson was born on July 1, 1949, in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, West Germany.
Growing up, he also lived in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, Japan, and the suburbs of
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
[Jesse McKinley]
"A Prodigal Son Turned Novelist Turns Playwright"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', June 16, 2002. His father, Alfred Johnson, worked for the
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
as a liaison between the
USIA and the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
.
[David Amsden]
"Denis Johnson's Second Stage"
''New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
'', 2010. His mother, the former Vera Louise Childress, was a homemaker.
He earned a
B.A. in English (in 1971) from the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
and an
M.F.A. (in 1974) 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 ...
,
where he also returned to teach.
While at the Writers' Workshop, Johnson took classes from
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...
.
Career
Johnson published his first book, a collection of poetry titled ''The Man Among Seals'', in 1969 at the age of 19.
He earned a measure of acclaim with the publication of his first novel, ''Angels'', in 1983.
In 1979, the Arizona Commission on the Arts and Humanities awarded him a fellowship, and he taught creative writing at the state prison in Florence, Arizona, from 1979 to 1981. This life-changing experience, in particular his work with two death-row inmates, impelled Johnson to finish ''Angels'', a novel he had started years before.
''
The Stars at Noon'' (1986), a spy thriller, follows an unnamed American woman during the
Nicaraguan Revolution
The Nicaraguan Revolution () began with rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the ouster of the dictatorship in 1978–79, and fighting between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The revolution r ...
of 1984. It was adapted into the 2022 film ''
Stars at Noon'' by director
Claire Denis
Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...
, starring
Joe Alwyn and
Margaret Qualley.
''
Tree of Smoke'' won the 2007
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 ...
[ and was a finalist for the 2008 ]Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
. It takes place during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, spanning the years 1963–70, with a coda set in 1983. In the novel, we learn the history of Bill Houston, a main character in Johnson's first novel ''Angels'', the latter novel set in the early 1980s.
Johnson came to prominence in 1992 with the short story collection '' Jesus' Son'', which included vignettes originally published in ''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 ...
'', inspired by Isaac Babel
Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel ( – 27 January 1940) was a Soviet writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of ''Red Cavalry'' and ''Odessa Stories'', and has been acclaimed as "the greatest prose write ...
's book '' Red Cavalry''. The first story " Car Crash While Hitchhiking" was published in ''The Paris Review
''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...
''. In a 2006 ''New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' poll, ''Jesus' Son'' was voted one of the best works of American fiction published in the last 25 years. It has been variously described as: seminal, legendary, transcendent, a classic, and a masterpiece.[Italie, Hillel (May 27, 2017) ] It was adapted into the 1999 film of the same name, which starred Billy Crudup. Johnson has a cameo role in the film as a man who has been stabbed in the eye by his wife.
'' Train Dreams'', originally published as a story in ''The Paris Review
''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...
'' in 2002, was published as a novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...
in 2011 and was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
. However, for the first time since 1977, the Pulitzer board did not award a prize for fiction that year.[ Michael Cunningham]
"Letter From the Pulitzer Fiction Jury: What Really Happened This Year"
''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 ...
'', July 9, 2012.
Johnson's plays have been produced in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Seattle. He was the Resident Playwright of Campo Santo, the resident theater company at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco. In 2006 and 2007, Johnson held the Mitte Chair in Creative Writing at Texas State University
Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...
in San Marcos, Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. Johnson also occasionally taught at the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
.
The final book he published while still alive was the novel ''The Laughing Monsters'', which he called a "literary thriller" set in Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Congo. It was released in 2014. Johnson's final work, a book of short stories titled '' The Largesse of the Sea Maiden'', was published posthumously in January 2018.
Personal life
Johnson was twice divorced and lived with his third wife, Cindy Lee, in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, at the time of his death. They also shared a home in Idaho. Johnson had three children, two of whom he homeschooled; in October 1997, he wrote an article for the website ''Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
'' in defense of homeschooling.[Denis Johnson]
"School is Out"
''Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
'', October 1, 1997.
For most of his 20s, Johnson was addicted to drugs and alcohol and did not do much writing. In 1978, he moved to his parents' home in Scottsdale, Arizona to sober up and find direction. He stopped drinking alcohol in 1978 and quit recreational drugs in 1983.
In his essay "Bikers for Jesus," Johnson described himself as "a Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
convert, but one of the airy, sophisticated kind."
Death
Johnson died on May 24, 2017, from liver cancer
Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...
at his home in The Sea
Ranch, a community near Gualala, California, at the age of 67.[
]
Awards and nominations
* 1981 – National Poetry Series award (selected by Mark Strand), for ''The Incognito Lounge''
* 1983 – The Frost Place poet in residence
* 1986 – 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 ...
* 1986 – Whiting Award
* 1993 – Lannan Fellowship in Fiction
* 2002 – Aga Khan Prize for Fiction from ''The Paris Review
''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...
'', for ''Train Dreams''
* 2007 – National Book Award
The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...
, for '' Tree of Smoke''["National Book Awards – 2007"]
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: ...
. Retrieved March 27, 2012. With interview, acceptance speech by Johnson, and essay by Matthew Pitt from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.
* 2008 – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
finalist, for ''Tree of Smoke''[Ben Sisario]
"Arts, Briefly: Channeling Noir, Dickens-Style,"
''New York Times'', June 11, 2008.
* 2012 – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist, for ''Train Dreams''
* 2017 – Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction (awarded posthumously)
Works
Novels
* ''Angels
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
''(Knopf, 1983) ''
* '' Fiskadoro'' (Knopf, 1985)
* '' The Stars at Noon'' (Knopf, 1986)
* '' Resuscitation of a Hanged Man'' ( Farrar, Straus & Giroux SG 1991)
* '' Already Dead: A California Gothic'' (Harper Collins, 1997)
* '' The Name of the World'' (Harper, 2000)
* '' Tree of Smoke'' (FSG, 2007)
* '' Nobody Move'' (FSG, 2009)
* '' Train Dreams'' (FSG, 2011) – a novella first published in ''The Paris Review'' 002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to:
Airports
*0O2, Baker Airport
*O02, Nervino Airport
Astronomy
*1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila
*1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun
Fiction
*002, fictional British 00 Agent
*''002 Operazione Luna'' ...
and in ''Europe'' 004ref name="utexas.edu"/>
*'' The Laughing Monsters'' (FSG, 2014)
Short fiction
* '' Jesus' Son'' (FSG, 1992)
* '' The Largesse of the Sea Maiden'' (Penguin/Random House, 2018)
Poetry
* ''The Man Among the Seals: Poems'' (Stone Wall Press, 1969)
* ''Inner Weather'' ( Graywolf Press, 1976)
* '' The Incognito Lounge and Other Poems'' (Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
, 1982)
* ''The Veil'' (Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...
, 1987)
* ''The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly: Poems Collected and New'' (Harper Perennial
Harper Perennial is a paperback imprint of the publishing house HarperCollins Publishers.
Overview
Harper Perennial has divisions located in New York, London, Toronto, and Sydney. The imprint is descended from the Perennial Library imprint foun ...
, 1995)
* "Last Night I Dreamed I Was in Mexico" (Ploughshares 36.4, 2010, p. 58)
* "The Trees Leaning into One Another, Green and Horrible" (Ploughshares 36.4, 2010, p. 59)
Plays
* ''Hellhound on My Trail: A Drama in Three Parts'' (2000)
* ''Shoppers: Two Plays'' (Harper, 2002) - includes ''Hellhound on My Trail''
* ''Psychos Never Dream'', Campo Santo Theater, San Francisco (2004)
* ''Des Moines'', San Francisco premiere in October 2007
** ''Des Moines'', New York premiere in November 2022
* ''Soul of a Whore and Purvis: Two Plays in Verse'' (FSG, 2012)
Screenplays
* ''The Prom'' (1990) (directed by Steven Shainberg)[Staff writers (February 2, 2015) ]
* '' Hit Me'' (1996) (directed by Steven Shainberg, adapted from the novel ''A Swell-Looking Babe'' by Jim Thompson)
Nonfiction
* (contributor) ''One Man By Himself: Portraits of John Serl'' (Hard Press, 1995)
*
*
*
*
*
*
* '' Seek: Reports from the Edges of America & Beyond'' (essays) (HarperCollins, 2001)
References
External links
Denis Johnson Papers
at the Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...
*
Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco
KCRW Bookworm Interview
Profile at The Whiting Foundation
Denis Johnson profile and poems at Academy of American Poets
Denis Johnson
at Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
Authorities — with 25 catalog records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Denis
1949 births
2017 deaths
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American poets
20th-century American short story writers
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American poets
21st-century American short story writers
21st-century American male writers
American male dramatists and playwrights
American male novelists
American male poets
American male short story writers
Deaths from liver cancer in California
Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni
National Book Award winners
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners
American postmodern writers
The New Yorker people
O. Henry Award winners