Falen Johnson is a Mohawk and

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

playwright and broadcaster from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Personal life

Born in 1982, Johnson is from

Six Nations of the Grand River Six Nations (or Six Nations of the Grand River) is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. As of the end of 2017, it has a total of 27,276 members, 12,848 of whom live on the reserve. The six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy ...

and graduated from the

George Brown Theatre School The George Brown Theatre School is a drama school in Toronto, Canada. Providing training in multiple forms and practices of theatre, it is one of the highest-regarded conservatory schools for drama in the country. The school was founded in 1976 as ...

in 2005. She is a member of the bear clan. Johnson spent most of her formative years in

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

; she currently lives in Toronto.

Work and education

She is the previous Coordinator of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance, a member-driven organization of professional Indigenous performing artists and arts organizations. IPAA serves as a collective voice for its members and for Indigenous performing arts in Canada. It provides leadership, support, representation, advocacy, and practical assistance for the national development of Indigenous performing arts.

Playwright

Johnson's plays include ''Salt Baby, Two Indians,'' and ''Ipperwash.'' Her plays focus on contemporary Indigenous identity, navigating spaces as an Indigenous women, and colonial contexts. ''Salt Baby'' was Johnson's first play and focused on the story of an Indigenous women navigating the differences between 'rez life' and the city. The play was semi-autobiographical and based on her experience living in Six Nations and Brantford, Ontario. Johnson's play ''Two Indians'' is a dark comedy that explores the realities of being Indigenous in Canada. Following its publication in book form in 2021, ''Two Indians'' was a shortlisted finalist for the

Governor General's Award for English-language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awa ...

at the 2021 Governor General's Awards. She created ''Ipperwash'' (2018) in response to the Idle No More movement. This play is rooted in the history of the 1995 occupation of the Ipperwash Provincial Park and focuses on the relationship of two cousins and kinship ties. ''Ipperwash'' also marked Johnson's debut as a director and was created by working with member of the Stony Point Ojibway community. Johnson is currently working with

Soulpepper Theatre Soulpepper is a theatre company based in Toronto, Ontario.Keith Garebian"Soulpepper Theatre" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', November 4, 2010. History Soulpepper was founded in 1998 by twelve Toronto artists aiming to produce lesser-known theatri ...

on a play about the life of residential school survivor and artist

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and oth ...

Podcasting

Johnson co-hosts the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

podcast, ''Secret Life of Canada'' with Leah-Simone Bowen. This podcast focuses on little known parts of Canadian history and explores the histories of marginalized communities in Canada. Johnson has also been featured on The Moth storytelling podcast. In 2020, Johnson succeeded

Rosanna Deerchild Rosanna Deerchild (Ferguson) is a Canadian Cree writer, poet and radio host. She is best known as host of the radio program ''Unreserved'' on CBC Radio One, a show that shares the music, cultures, and stories from indigenous people across Canada, ...

as host of CBC Radio's indigenous newsmagazine series ''

Unreserved ''Unreserved'' is a Canadian radio program, which airs weekly on CBC Radio One.

''.

Awards and recognition

Johnson was named one of the 20 people to watch in 2020 by

Maclean's Magazine ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

. In 2019 Johnson won the best audio work award at the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. This award recognized her work on the ''Secret Life of Canada'' podcast. As part of its Indigenous Arts Award Laureates program, the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

awarded Johnson with the Emerging Artist Award in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Falen Living people 1982 births Canadian Mohawk women writers 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian women dramatists and playwrights First Nations dramatists and playwrights CBC Radio hosts Canadian talk radio hosts Six Nations of the Grand River people Tuscarora people Canadian women radio hosts Bear Clan of the Iroquois