Josephine W. Johnson

Josephine Johnson (1910-1990). Courtesy The Feminist Press.

Josephine Johnson
Born	Josephine Winslow Johnson June 20, 1910(1910-Template:MONTHNUMBER-20) Kirkwood, Missouri, United States
Died	February 27, 1990(1990-Template:MONTHNUMBER-27) (aged 79) Batavia, Ohio, United States
Occupation	novelist
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Washington University in St. Louis
Genres	novels, short stories
Notable award(s)	Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, 1935 O. Henry Award, 1934, 1935, 1942, 1943, 1944

Josephine Winslow Johnson (June 20, 1910 - February 27, 1990) was an American poet, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, and essayist.

Life

Johnson was born in Kirkwood, Missouri. She attended Washington University in St. Louis from 1926 to 1931, but did not earn a degree. She wrote her debut novel, Now In November, while living in her mother's attic in Webster Groves, Missouri. She remained on her farm in Webster Groves and in 1935 published Winter Orchard, a collection of short stories that had previously appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Vanity Fair, The St. Louis Review, and Hound & Horn. .

She married Grant G. Cannon, editor in chief of the Farm Quarterly, in 1942. The couple moved to Iowa City, where she taught at the University of Iowa for the next 3 years. In 1947 they moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, where she published Wildwood.

Johnson had 3 children: Terence, Ann, and Carol. The Cannons continued to move beyond the advancing urban sprawl of Cincinnati, finally settling on the wooded acreage in Clermont County, Ohio, which is the setting of The Inland Island. She published four more books before her death, from pneumonia, on February 27, 1990, in Batavia, Ohio, at age 79.

Recognition

Her short story "Dark" won an O. Henry Award in 1934, and "John the Six" won an O. Henry Award 3rd prize the following year. Johnson won 3 more O. Henry Awards: for "Alexander to the Park" (1942), "The Glass Pigeon" (1943), and "Night Flight" (1944).

She won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1935 at age 24 for her debut novel, Now in November.

In 1955, Washington University awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Publications

Poetry

• The Unwilling Gypsy. Dallas, TX: Kaleidograph Press, 1936.
• Year's End. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1937.

Novels

• Now in November. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1934; London: Gollancz, 1935.
• Jordanstown: A novel. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1937; London: Gollancz, 1937.
• Wildwood. New York & London: Harper, 1946; London: Gollancz, 1947.
• The Dark Traveler. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1963.

Short fiction

• Winter Orchard, and other stories. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1935.
• The Sorcerer's Son, and other stories. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965.

Non-fiction

• The Inland Island. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1969; Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1987; Cincinnati, OH: Story Press, 1996.
  • (illustrations by Annie Cannon, the author's daughter) 1996.
• Seven Houses: A memoir of time and places. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973.
• The Circle of Seasons (with Dennis Stock). New York: Viking Press, 1974.
• Florence Farr: Bernard Shaw's 'new woman'. Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, UK: Colin Smythe, 1975; Totowa, NJ: Rowan & Littlefield, 1975.

Juvenile

• Paulina: The story of an applebutter pot. New York: Simon, 1939.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of U.S. poets

External links

Poems

• "Year's End" in Poetry, January 1935
• Persons Seen: 2 poems by Josephine W. Johnson in Poetry, May 1932

Audio / video

• Two poems of Josephine Johnson sung by Honors Choir of SE MN

Books

• Josephine Winslow Johnson at Amazon.com

About

• Josephine W. Johnson at The Feminist Press
• Josephine Johnson: Highlights of a life at Ohioana Authors.
• Josephine Johnson: Nature writer, poet And novelist, 79 obituary at the New York Times