T. Geronimo Johnson is an American filmmaker and novelist. His debut novel, Hold It 'Til It Hurts, was a finalist for the 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. His sophomore novel, Welcome to Braggsville, won the 2015 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, the 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Fiction Writing, and the inaugural Simpson Family Literary Prize in 2017.
Johnson was born and raised in New Orleans. [1] [2]
Johnson received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and religious studies from Oglethorpe University; [1] a Master of Arts in language, literacy, and culture from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. [2] [3] He was also a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. [3] Between 2017–2018, Johnson was a Rome Prize Fellow.
As of 2024 [update] , he is in the process of completing a Doctor of Philosophy in language, literacy, and culture from University of California, Berkeley. [1]
Johnson has taught writing at multiple universities, including the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; Oregon State University; and Texas State University; among others. [1] [3]
In 2007, Johnson's short story "Winter Never Quits" was included in Harvest Books' Best New American Voices 2007. [4]
Johnson's debut novel, Hold It 'Til It Hurts, was published by Coffee House Press in 2012. [5] [6] The novel was a finalist for the 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. [2] [3] [7]
Johnson's second novel, Welcome to Braggsville, was published by William Morrow and Company in 2015. [8] [9] The novel won the 2015 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, [3] [10] 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Fiction Writing, [3] [11] and 2017 Simpson Family Literary Prize. [3] It was also a runner-up for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, [12] longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award for Fiction [2] [3] [13] and 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction, [3] [14] and nominated for the 2016 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. [15] NPR and Time also included it on their list of the best books of 2015. [16] [17]
In 2016, after his nomination the previous year, Johnson was named a judge for the National Book Award for Fiction. [3] [18]
NPR and Time included Welcome to Braggsville on their lists of the best books of 2015. [16] [17]
| Year | Title | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Hold It 'Til It Hurts | PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction | — | Finalist | [2] [3] [7] |
| 2015 | Welcome to Braggsville | Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence | — | Won | [3] [10] |
| 2015 | National Book Award | Fiction | Longlisted | [2] [3] [13] | |
| 2016 | Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence | Fiction | Longlisted | [3] [14] | |
| Hurston/Wright Legacy Award | General Fiction | Nominated | [15] | ||
| Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award | — | Runner-Up | [12] | ||
| William Saroyan International Prize for Writing | Fiction | Won | [3] [11] | ||
| 2017 | Simpson Family Literary Prize | — | Won | [3] |
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The International Dublin Literary Award, established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by Dublin City Council, Ireland. At €100,000, the award is one of the richest literary prizes in the world. If the winning book is a translation, the prize is divided between the writer and the translator, with the writer receiving €75,000 and the translator €25,000. The first award was made in 1996 to David Malouf for his English-language novel Remembering Babylon.
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its motto "All the best stories are true", the prize covers current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. The competition is open to authors of any nationality whose work is published in the UK in English. The longlist, shortlist and winner is chosen by a panel of independent judges, which changes every year. Formerly named after English author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, the award was renamed in 2015 after Baillie Gifford, an investment management firm and the primary sponsor. Since 2016, the annual dinner and awards ceremony has been sponsored by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It was a lifetime award in that previous winners were not eligible. At least from 2000 the prize was £1,500. The prize was apparently discontinued after 2016, though no formal announcement appears to have been made.
Since 1980, the Los Angeles Times has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Los Angeles Times Book Prize currently has nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction, history, mystery/thriller, poetry, science and technology, and young adult fiction. In addition, the Robert Kirsch Award is presented annually to a living author with a substantial connection to the American West. It is named in honor of Robert Kirsch, the Los Angeles Times book critic from 1952 until his death in 1980 whose idea it was to establish the book prizes.
Yiyun Li is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Where Reasons End, and the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Book of Goose. Her short story collection Wednesday's Child was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is an editor of the Brooklyn-based literary magazine A Public Space.
The PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award honors "excellence in the art of the short story". It is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. The selection committee is composed of PEN/Faulkner directors. The award was first given in 1988.
The Ned Kelly Awards are Australia's leading literary awards for crime writing in both the crime fiction and true crime genres. They were established in 1996 by the Crime Writers Association of Australia to reward excellence in the field of crime writing within Australia.
The William Saroyan International Prize for Writing is a biennial literary award for fiction and nonfiction in the spirit of William Saroyan by emerging writers. It was established by Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation to "encourage new or emerging writers rather than recognize established literary figures;" the prize being $12,500.
The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010. At £25,000, it is one of the largest literary awards in the UK. The award was created by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, who is generally considered the originator of historical fiction with the novel Waverley in 1814.
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The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize is an annual award presented by the Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York City, for the best debut novel. From 2006 to 2011, it was called the John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize in honor of John Turner Sargent, Sr.. From 2011 to 2014, it was known as the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, named for Center for Fiction board member Nancy Dunnan and her journalist father Ray W. Flaherty.
The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK. The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative. The winner receives £10,000. The prize is named in honour of the distinguished late publisher and literary agent, Desmond Elliott.
The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection is awarded by the PEN America "to exceptionally talented fiction writers whose debut work — a first novel or collection of short stories ... represent distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise." The winner is selected by a panel of PEN Members made up of three writers or editors. The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize was originally named the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers. The prize awards the debut writer a cash award of US$25,000.
The Stella Prize is an Australian annual literary award established in 2013 for writing by Australian women in all genres, worth $50,000. It was originally proposed by Australian women writers and publishers in 2011, modelled on the UK's Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.
The Ferro-Grumley Award is an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle and the Ferro-Grumley Foundation to a book deemed the year's best work of LGBT fiction. The award is presented in memory of writers Robert Ferro and Michael Grumley. It was co-founded in 1988 by Stephen Greco, who continues to direct it as of 2022.
The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence is an annual national literary award designed to recognize rising African American fiction writers. First awarded in 2007, the prize is underwritten by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation in honor of the literary heritage provided by author Ernest J. Gaines, with the winner receiving a cash award "to support and enable the writer to focus on writing." It has been described as "the nation's biggest prize for African-American writers".
Namwali Serpell is an American and Zambian writer who teaches in the United States. In April 2014, she was named on Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with the potential and talent to define trends in African literature. Her short story "The Sack" won the 2015 Caine Prize for African fiction in English. In 2020, Serpell won the Belles-lettres category Grand Prix of Literary Associations 2019 for her debut novel The Old Drift.
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine Kirkus Reviews. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows US$150,000 annually. Three authors are awarded US$50,000 each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers' Literature. It has been described as one of the most lucrative prizes in literature.
The Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize is an annual award presented by the New Literary Project to recognize mid-career writers of fiction. "Mid-career writer" is defined by the project as "an author who has published at least two notable books of fiction, and who has yet to receive capstone recognition such as a Pulitzer or a MacArthur." The prize, which carries a monetary award of $50,000, was established in 2017 and is administered by the New Literary Project, a collaboration of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation of Lafayette, California and the Department of English of the University of California, Berkeley.