Alaya Dawn Johnson Explained

Alaya Dawn Johnson (born 1982) ^[1] 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,^[2] and two novels set on islands resembling pre-modern Polynesia where people have learned to bind elemental powers to their commands.^{[3] [4]}

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.^{[5] [6]} 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.^{[7] [8]}

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.^[9]

Personal life

Johnson was born in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Columbia University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Languages and Cultures.^{[10] [11]}

Johnson lived in New York City until 2014, when she moved to Mexico City.^[12] 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.^[13]

Awards and honors

• World Fantasy Awards Winner, Best Novel for Trouble the Saints, 2021^[14]
• Andre Norton Award Winner, Best Young Adult Novel for Love Is the Drug, 2015^[15]
• Nebula Award Winner, Best Novelette for A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i, 2015
• Nebula Award Nominee, Best Novelette for They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass, 2013^[16]
• Andre Norton Award Nominee for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy for The Summer Prince, 2013
• National Book Award Longlist, Young People's Literature for The Summer Prince, 2013^[17]
• GLBTRT Top Ten Rainbow List for The Summer Prince, 2014^[18]
• Junior Library Guild selection for The Summer Prince, Spring 2013^[19]
• YALSA nominee for their BFYA list for The Summer Prince, 2013
• Finalist for the 2011 Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award for the novel Moonshine
• Finalist for the 2011 Carl Brandon Society Kindred Award for the novel The Burning City
• Top Ten finalist for the 2010 Million Writers Award for the short story A Song to Greet the Sun
• Winner of the 2008 Gulliver Travel Grant from the Speculative Literature Foundation
• Finalist for the 2006 Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award for the short story Shard of Glass

Bibliography

Novels

• Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . The Summer Prince . . 2013 . 978-0545417792 . hardcover 1st . 289 . 2.
• Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . Love Is the Drug . . 2014 . 978-0545417815 . hardcover 1st . 344 . 2.
• Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . . . 2020 . 978-1250175342 . hardcover 1st . 352 . 2.
• Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . The Library of Broken Worlds . . 2023 . 978-1338290622 . hardcover 1st . 448 . 2.

The Spirit Binders series

1. Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . Racing the Dark . . 2007 . 978-1932841282 . hardcover 2008 . 368 . 2.
2. Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . The Burning City . . 2010 . 978-1932841459 . paperback . 380 . 2.

Zephyr Hollis series

1. Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . Moonshine . . 2010 . 9780312648060 . paperback . 278 . 2.
2. Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . Wicked City . . 2012 . 978-0312565480 . hardcover 1st . 306 . 2.
3. Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . The Inconstant Moon . . 2012 . 978-1466820821 . ebook . 32 . 2. Quick story, published in ebook and webzine format.

Collection

• Book: Johnson, Alaya Dawn . Reconstruction . . 2020 . 978-1618731777 . paperback . 271 . 2. 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

Year	width=25%	Title	First published	Reprinted/collected
2005	"Shard of Glass"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Feb 14, 2005 . Shard of Glass (Part 1) . Strange Horizons. Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Feb 21, 2005 . Shard of Glass (Part 2) . Strange Horizons.	Year's Best Fantasy 6 pp. 58–77
	"Third Day Lights"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Sep–Oct 2005 . Third Day Lights . . 200.	Year's Best SF 11 pp. 281–308
2006	"Among Their Bright Eyes"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Winter 2006 . Among Their Bright Eyes . . 5.	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2007 . Among Their... . .
2008	"Down the Well"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Aug 4, 2008 . Down the Well . Strange Horizons.
2009	"Far and Deep"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Mar–Apr 2009 . Far and Deep . . 221.
	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Sep 7, 2009 . The Yeast of Eire (Part 1) . Strange Horizons. Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Sep 14, 2009 . The Yeast of Eire (Part 2) . Strange Horizons.
	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Oct 2009 . A Song to Greet the Sun . . 31.
	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2009 . The Score . Interfictions 2 . . 46–73.	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2013 . The Score . .
2010	"Love Will Tear Us Apart"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2010 . Love Will Tear Us Apart . Zombies Vs. Unicorns . . 21–48.
2011	"Their Changing Bodies"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Summer 2011 . Their Changing Bodies . Subterranean Online . . 7.
	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2011 . A Prince of Thirteen Days . Welcome to Bordertown . . 190–219.
2013	"They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Jan 2013 . They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass . . 37 . 1 . 10–26.	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2021 . They Shall... . .
2014	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Jul–Aug 2014 . A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i . . 127 . 1&2 . 231–255.
2017	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2017 . A Hundred Thousand Threads . Three Sides of a Heart . . 333–369.
2020	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2020 . The Rules of the Land . A Phoenix First Must Burn . . 67–84.
	"Reconstruction"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2020 . Reconstruction . Reconstruction . .
	""	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . Nov–Dec 2020 . The Mirages . . 44 . 11&12 . 36–44.
2021	"Trouble the Saints"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2021 . Trouble the Saints . . .
2022	"" (with Janelle Monáe)	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2022 . The Memory Librarian . . .
	"Wonder Woman: Heartless Volume 1" (With Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, and Heidi Heilig)	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2022 . Wonder Woman: Heartless . . 1. 978-1-63855-081-5 .
2023	"The Library of Broken Worlds"	Johnson . Alaya Dawn . 2 . 2023 . The Library of Broken Worlds . . 978-1-338-29064-6 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Alaya Dawn Johnson - rhymes with papaya . 2013-04-25 . 2015-10-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151024133303/http://www.alayadawnjohnson.com/ . live .
2. News: Wicked City. 25 April 2013. Publishers Weekly. 1 February 2012. 23 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131023111630/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-312-56548-0. live.
3. News: Miller. Faren. Faren Miller reviews Alaya Dawn Johnson. 25 April 2013. Locus magazine. 21 August 2010. 12 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170812053055/http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2010/08/faren-miller-reviews-alaya-dawn-johnson/. live.
4. News: Kincaid Speller . Maureen . Racing the Dark and The Burning City by Alaya Dawn Johnson . 25 April 2013 . . 13 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141012133745/http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2011/04/racing_the_dark.shtml . 12 October 2014.
5. News: Petra Mayer. Mayer. Petra. Samba, Spiderbots And 'Summer' Love In Far-Future Brazil. 25 April 2013. NPR. 7 March 2013. 20 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130420035631/http://www.npr.org/2013/03/07/172878955/samba-spiderbots-and-summer-love-in-far-future-brazil. live.
6. News: Dobbs. Michael Ann. The Summer Prince takes us to a future Brazil with human sacrifice. 25 April 2013. io9. 15 April 2013. 18 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130418122259/http://io9.com/the-summer-prince-takes-us-to-a-future-brazil-with-huma-472955048. live.
7. News: Love Is The Drug. 19 November 2014. Kirkus Reviews. 30 June 2014. 29 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129031321/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alaya-dawn-johnson/love-is-the-drug-johnson/. live.
8. News: Valentine. Genevieve. 'Love Is the Drug' For A Teen Caught In A Dystopian D.C.. 19 November 2014. NPR. 27 September 2014. 18 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141118113636/http://www.npr.org/2014/09/27/343179621/love-is-the-drug-for-a-teen-caught-in-a-dystopian-d-c. live.
9. Web site: Life, the Universe, & Everything 39: The Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy . LTUE Press . February 13, 2020 . September 13, 2021 . August 10, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210810004329/https://ltue.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LTUEProgramBook2021.pdf . live .
10. Web site: Johnson. Alaya Dawn. About. 25 April 2013. 23 August 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130823120921/http://www.alayadawnjohnson.com/?page_id=2. live.
11. Web site: 6 New Books to Read This Fall. 2020-12-28. Columbia Magazine. en. 2020-12-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20201224233128/https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/6-new-books-read-fall. live.
12. Web site: 2020-07-30. Interview: Alaya Dawn Johnson. 2022-02-01. Lightspeed Magazine. en-US. 2022-02-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20220201045839/https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/interview-alaya-dawn-johnson-2/. live.
13. Web site: 2023-04-29. About Alaya Dawn Johnson.
14. Web site: World Fantasy Awards 2021 . 2022-08-12 . 2022-10-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221023130138/http://www.worldfantasy.org/world-fantasy-awards%e2%84%a0-2021/ . live .
15. Web site: Nebula Award Winners . 2015-07-20 . 2016-11-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161103101527/http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/ . live .
16. Web site: 2013 Nebula Nominees Announced . 2014-02-25 . 2014-03-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140301075716/http://www.sfwa.org/2014/02/2013-nebula-nominees-announced/ . live .
17. Web site: 2013 National Book Award . 2014-02-25 . 2018-10-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181026160307/http://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2013/ . live .
18. Web site: 2014 Rainbow List . 2014-02-25 . 2014-03-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140301135644/http://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/archives/1103 . live .
19. Web site: Who I Am . 2014-02-25 . 2014-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140304172608/http://www.alayadawnjohnson.com/speaking/?p=7 . dead .