Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Bravery in Writing and ‘the Introvert's Revenge’
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Bravery in Writing and ‘the Introvert's Revenge’
Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton sit down with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson—author of Ursa's Season Two, Episode 3 story, "Virginia Is Not Your Home"—to discuss her acclaimed debut collection, My Monticello, and the journey of its making. Johnson talks about her writing as a direct response to historical events as they occur, much of her work centering Virginia as home, and grappling with complicated histories, experiences, and ideas around identity.
Johnson addresses the themes that occur throughout her collection, such as that of loneliness, belonging, resistance, violence, and salvation. Deesha and Dawnie dive into questions about perspective, voice, character- and world-building, the writing and revision process, and perseverance as a writer:
“Control what you can control, which is the writing. Enjoy the writing. Do your best with the writing. What matters is the writing. I just think you want to be thoughtful, but put that thought and care into that part of it, because that's the part that you have the most control.”Reading List:
"Virginia Is Not Your Home" (Ursa Short Fiction)
My Monticello (Jocelyn Nicole Johnson)
My Monticello audiobook (Audible)
Corregidora (Gayl Jones)
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
The World Doesn't Require You (Rion Amilcar Scott)
About the Author
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is the author of My Monticello, a fiction debut that was called "a masterly feat" by the New York Times, and winner of the Library of Virginia Fiction Award, the Weatherford Award, the Balcones Fiction Prize, and the Lillian Smith Award, as well as a finalist for the Kirkus Fiction Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Leonard Award, the LA Times Debut Seidenbaum Prize, and long-listed for a Pen/Faulkner Fiction Award and the Story Prize. Johnson has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, Kweli Journal, Joyland, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. Her short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, guest edited by Roxane Gay and read live by LeVar Burton. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)
***
Episode editor: Kelly Araja
Associate producer: Marina Leigh
Producer: Mark Armstrong
Ursa Short Fiction is supported by our listeners. Share this podcast with a friend—or become a Member to help fund production: https://ursastory.com/join
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join
View all episodes
By Ursa Story Company
3.8
219219 ratings
Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton sit down with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson—author of Ursa's Season Two, Episode 3 story, "Virginia Is Not Your Home"—to discuss her acclaimed debut collection, My Monticello, and the journey of its making. Johnson talks about her writing as a direct response to historical events as they occur, much of her work centering Virginia as home, and grappling with complicated histories, experiences, and ideas around identity.
Johnson addresses the themes that occur throughout her collection, such as that of loneliness, belonging, resistance, violence, and salvation. Deesha and Dawnie dive into questions about perspective, voice, character- and world-building, the writing and revision process, and perseverance as a writer:
“Control what you can control, which is the writing. Enjoy the writing. Do your best with the writing. What matters is the writing. I just think you want to be thoughtful, but put that thought and care into that part of it, because that's the part that you have the most control.”Reading List:
"Virginia Is Not Your Home" (Ursa Short Fiction)
My Monticello (Jocelyn Nicole Johnson)
My Monticello audiobook (Audible)
Corregidora (Gayl Jones)
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
The World Doesn't Require You (Rion Amilcar Scott)
About the Author
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is the author of My Monticello, a fiction debut that was called "a masterly feat" by the New York Times, and winner of the Library of Virginia Fiction Award, the Weatherford Award, the Balcones Fiction Prize, and the Lillian Smith Award, as well as a finalist for the Kirkus Fiction Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Leonard Award, the LA Times Debut Seidenbaum Prize, and long-listed for a Pen/Faulkner Fiction Award and the Story Prize. Johnson has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, Kweli Journal, Joyland, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. Her short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, guest edited by Roxane Gay and read live by LeVar Burton. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)
***
Episode editor: Kelly Araja
Associate producer: Marina Leigh
Producer: Mark Armstrong
Ursa Short Fiction is supported by our listeners. Share this podcast with a friend—or become a Member to help fund production: https://ursastory.com/join
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join
More shows like Ursa Short Fiction
View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour
6,769 Listeners
The Moth
27,270 Listeners
The New Yorker: Fiction
3,333 Listeners
The Book Review
3,874 Listeners
The New Yorker: Poetry
507 Listeners
Book Riot - The Podcast
997 Listeners
Selected Shorts
2,876 Listeners
The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker
2,143 Listeners
Up First from NPR
56,375 Listeners
It's Been a Minute
9,003 Listeners
The Stoop
1,222 Listeners
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
779 Listeners
NPR's Book of the Day
637 Listeners
Essential Guide to Writing a Novel
361 Listeners
Vibe Check
1,751 Listeners
Reckon True Stories
112 Listeners
The Business of Publishing
0 Listeners