Alaya Dawn Johnson

American writer of speculative fiction

Alaya Dawn Johnson (born 1982)^[1] (/əˈlaɪə/)^[2] is an American writer of speculative fiction.

Career

Apart from short fiction, Johnson has published two urban fantasy novels about "vampire suffragette" Zephyr Hollis set in an alternate 1920s New York City,^[3] and two novels set on islands resembling pre-modern Polynesia where people have learned to bind elemental powers to their commands.^[4][5]

Her 2013 debut in the young adult fiction sector, the standalone novel The Summer Prince, is set on a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk Brazilian arcology ruled by a nanotech-empowered matriarchy.^[6][7] Love Is the Drug, her 2014 standalone young adult novel, is set in Washington, D.C., and follows a prep-school student whose memory loss may be connected to a burgeoning global influenza pandemic.^[8][9]

In February 2021 Johnson was the literary guest of honor and keynote speaker at the 39th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.^[10]

Personal life

Johnson was born in Washington, D.C.^[1] She graduated from Columbia University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Languages and Cultures.^[11][12]

Johnson lived in New York City^[11] until 2014, when she moved to Mexico City.^[13] She received a master's degree in Mesoamerican studies from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México for her thesis on fermented food and its ritual symbolism in pre-Columbian Mexico.^[14]

Awards and honors

• World Fantasy Awards Winner, Best Novel for Trouble the Saints, 2021^[15]
• Andre Norton Award Winner, Best Young Adult Novel for Love Is the Drug, 2015^[16]
• Nebula Award Winner, Best Novelette for A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i, 2015^[16]
• Nebula Award Nominee, Best Novelette for They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass, 2013^[17]
• Andre Norton Award Nominee for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy for The Summer Prince, 2013^[17]
• National Book Award Longlist, Young People's Literature for The Summer Prince, 2013^[18]
• GLBTRT Top Ten Rainbow List for The Summer Prince, 2014^[19]
• Junior Library Guild selection for The Summer Prince, Spring 2013^[20]
• YALSA nominee for their BFYA list for The Summer Prince, 2013^[20]
• Finalist for the 2011 Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award for the novel Moonshine^[20]
• Finalist for the 2011 Carl Brandon Society Kindred Award for the novel The Burning City^[20]
• Top Ten finalist for the 2010 Million Writers Award for the short story A Song to Greet the Sun^[20]
• Winner of the 2008 Gulliver Travel Grant from the Speculative Literature Foundation^[20]
• Finalist for the 2006 Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award for the short story Shard of Glass^[20]

Bibliography

Novels

• —— (2013). The Summer Prince (hardcover 1st ed.). Arthur A. Levine Books. p. 289. ISBN 978-0545417792.
• —— (2014). Love Is the Drug (hardcover 1st ed.). Arthur A. Levine Books. p. 344. ISBN 978-0545417815.
• —— (2020). Trouble the Saints (hardcover 1st ed.). Tor Books. p. 352. ISBN 978-1250175342.
• —— (2023). The Library of Broken Worlds (hardcover 1st ed.). Scholastic Press. p. 448. ISBN 978-1338290622.

The Spirit Binders series

1. —— (2007). Racing the Dark (hardcover 2008 ed.). Agate Bolden. p. 368. ISBN 978-1932841282.
2. —— (2010). The Burning City (paperback ed.). Agate Bolden. p. 380. ISBN 978-1932841459.

Zephyr Hollis series

1. —— (2010). Moonshine (paperback ed.). Griffin. p. 278. ISBN 9780312648060.
2. —— (2012). Wicked City (hardcover 1st ed.). Thomas Dunne Books. p. 306. ISBN 978-0312565480.
3. —— (2012). The Inconstant Moon (ebook ed.). Tor Books. p. 32. ISBN 978-1466820821. Quick story, published in ebook and webzine format.

Collection

• —— (2020). Reconstruction (paperback ed.). Small Beer Press. p. 271. ISBN 978-1618731777. Includes 10 short stories:
  1. "A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i"
  2. "Their Changing Bodies"
  3. "They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass"
  4. "Down the Well"
  5. "Third Day Lights"
  6. "The Score"
  7. "Far and Deep"
  8. "The Mirages"
  9. "Reconstruction"
  10. "A Song to Greet the Sun"

Short fiction

References

1. Alaya Dawn Johnson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
2. "Alaya Dawn Johnson - rhymes with papaya". Archived from the original on 2015-10-24. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
3. "Wicked City". Publishers Weekly. 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
4. Miller, Faren (21 August 2010). "Faren Miller reviews Alaya Dawn Johnson". Locus magazine. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
5. Kincaid Speller, Maureen (13 April 2011). "Racing the Dark and The Burning City by Alaya Dawn Johnson". Strange Horizons. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
6. Mayer, Petra (7 March 2013). "Samba, Spiderbots And 'Summer' Love In Far-Future Brazil". NPR. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
7. Dobbs, Michael Ann (15 April 2013). "The Summer Prince takes us to a future Brazil with human sacrifice". io9. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
8. "Love Is The Drug". Kirkus Reviews. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
9. Valentine, Genevieve (27 September 2014). "'Love Is the Drug' For A Teen Caught In A Dystopian D.C." NPR. Archived from the original on 18 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
10. "Life, the Universe, & Everything 39: The Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy" (PDF). LTUE Press. February 13, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
11. Johnson, Alaya Dawn. "About". Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
12. "6 New Books to Read This Fall". Columbia Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-12-24. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
13. "Interview: Alaya Dawn Johnson". Lightspeed Magazine. 2020-07-30. Archived from the original on 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
14. "About Alaya Dawn Johnson". Retrieved 2023-04-29.
15. "World Fantasy Awards 2021". Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
16. "Nebula Award Winners". Archived from the original on 2016-11-03. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
17. "2013 Nebula Nominees Announced". Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
18. "2013 National Book Award". Archived from the original on 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
19. "2014 Rainbow List". Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
20. "Who I Am". Archived from the original on 2014-03-04. Retrieved 2014-02-25.

External links

• Official website
• Alaya Dawn Johnson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database