Jessica Johns

Last updated

Jessica Johns
LanguageEnglish
Education
Notable works Bad Cree
Website
jessicasbjohns.com

Jessica Johns is a Cree writer from Canada, whose debut novel Bad Cree was published in 2023.

Contents

Early life and education

Johns is a member of the Sucker Creek First Nation in northern Alberta. [1] She grew up on her traditional territory in Treaty 8. She lived in Adelaide, Australia from ages 14 to 16. [2] Johns majored in English at Grant MacEwan University and has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. [3]

Career

While she was an MFA student, a creative writing teacher told Johns' class to never write about dreams. Johns wrote Bad Cree in part as a response to this, advice which Johns disagreed with due to the importance of dreams in Cree culture. [4] It was expanded from her earlier short story of the same name, which won the Journey Prize in 2020. [5]

Bad Cree was published in 2023 by HarperCollins Canada. [6] The novel won the MacEwan Book of the Year award, the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction, the ALA Alex Award, and was a shortlisted finalist for the 2023 Amazon.ca First Novel Award. [7] Bad Cree was selected for the 2024 edition of Canada Reads , where it was defended by Dallas Soonias. [8] [9]

Awards and honours

Awards for Johns's writing
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
2019How Not to SpillbpNichol Chapbook Award
2020"Bad Cree" Journey Prize Winner [5]
2023Bad Cree Amazon.ca First Novel Award Shortlist [7]
2023MacEwan Book of the YearWinner
2024ALA Alex Award Winner [10]
Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense Finalist [11]
CBC Canada Reads Nominee [8] [12]
Georges Bugnet Award for FictionWinner [13]
2024Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer PrizeShortlist

Personal life

Johns lives in Edmonton with her girlfriend and three cats. [3]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Bell, Justin (April 18, 2023). "Bookmarks: A dream world from local Cree author Jessica Johns". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  2. ↑ Haynes, Nalini (February 6, 2023). "Jessica Johns on being Cree, Queer, and representation". Dark Matter Zine. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Cyca, Michelle (January 5, 2023). "In her debut novel Bad Cree, Jessica Johns has dreamed up a horror story anchored by a Cree matriarchy". Quill and Quire. Archived from the original on June 12, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  4. ↑ Michelle Cyca, "In her debut novel Bad Cree, Jessica Johns has dreamed up a horror story anchored by a Cree matriarchy" Archived June 12, 2023, at the Wayback Machine . Quill & Quire , January 2023.
  5. 1 2 "4 emerging Canadian writers receive $10K prizes from Writers' Trust of Canada". CBC Books . Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  6. ↑ Justin Bell, "Bookmarks: A dream world from local Cree author Jessica Johns" Archived April 21, 2023, at the Wayback Machine . Edmonton Journal , April 18, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Drudi, Cassandra (May 4, 2023). "Billy-Ray Belcourt, Jessica Johns among 2023 Amazon Canada First Novel finalists". Quill and Quire . Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Meet the Canada Reads 2024 contenders". CBC . March 1, 2024. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Jessica Johns's novel Bad Cree is a story about grief, guilt and healing — read an excerpt now". CBC . January 11, 2023. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  10. ↑ "YALSA announces 2023 Alex Awards". News and Press Center. ALA American Library Association. January 22, 2024. Archived from the original on February 5, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  11. ↑ "2024 Audie Award Winners". Audio Publishers Association . Archived from the original on March 8, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Dallas Soonias is bringing his A-game to Canada Reads for Jessica John's Bad Cree". CBC . February 26, 2024. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  13. ↑ "2024 Alberta Literary Awards shortlists". Quill and Quire . April 25, 2024. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.