World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Denis Johnson

デニス・ジョンソン

Denis Johnson

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1949-07-01 （Munich, West Germany）
Died
2017-05-24 （Gualala, California, U.S. (near Sea Ranch)） age 67
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Christianity (convert)
Residence History
Philippines (childhood) → Japan (childhood) → Suburbs of Washington, D.C. (grew up) → Phoenix, Arizona → Idaho (shared home) → Sea Ranch / Gualala, California

Career

Occupations
novelist, poet, playwright
Active Years
1969-2017
Affiliations
Intersection for the Arts (Campo Santo), Iowa Writers' Workshop (teaching), Texas State University (Mitte Chair in Creative Writing), Michener Center for Writers (occasional teaching)
Influenced By
Raymond Carver, Isaac Babel

Education

University of Iowa
Department of English
Degree: B.A.（英語）
Period: 1967–1971
Year of Graduation: 1971
Country: United States
Iowa Writers' Workshop (University of Iowa)
Iowa Writers' Workshop (MFA)
Degree: M.F.A.
Period: 1972–1974
Year of Graduation: 1974
Country: United States
Later taught at the Workshop

Awards

National Poetry Series
1981
Work: The Incognito Lounge (poems)
Organization: National Poetry Series
Result: 受賞
The Frost Place (poet in residence)
1983
Organization: The Frost Place
Result: 選出（詩人在住）
Guggenheim Fellowship
1986
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Whiting Award
1986
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: 受賞
Lannan Fellowship in Fiction
1993
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 選出
Aga Khan Prize for Fiction (The Paris Review)
2002
Work: Train Dreams
Organization: The Paris Review
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Fiction
2007
Work: Tree of Smoke
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2008
Work: Tree of Smoke
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: ファイナリスト（ノミネート）
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2012
Work: Train Dreams
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: ファイナリスト（ノミネート）
Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
2017
Organization: Library of Congress
Result: 受賞（追贈）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Angels

1983 Novel (literary fiction)

A first major novel exploring addiction and redemption against a backdrop of a decaying American society; one of the works that established Johnson's reputation.

addictionredemptionloneliness

Jesus' Son

1992 Short story collection

A collection of vignettes about addicts and the fallen, regarded as a seminal work of contemporary American short fiction.

addictionredemptionviolenceblack humor and pathos
Adaptations
  • [Film] Jesus' Son (film) / Alison Maclean (1999)

Tree of Smoke

2007 Novel (war / historical)

A sprawling novel set during the Vietnam War that explores complex characters and moral questions; won the 2007 National Book Award.

effects of warmoral ambiguitymemory and guilt

Train Dreams

2011 Novella

A novella set in the early 20th-century American West that quietly depicts the life and losses of a solitary laborer; finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.

isolationlosstransformation of the American frontier

The Laughing Monsters

2014 Novel (literary thriller)

A later novel described by the author as a "literary thriller," set in Uganda, Sierra Leone and the Congo.

international politicsbetrayalviolence and ethics

Bibliography

  • The Man Among the Seals: Poems (1969)
  • Inner Weather (1976)
  • The Incognito Lounge and Other Poems (1982)
  • Angels (1983)
  • Fiskadoro (1985)
  • The Stars at Noon (1986)
  • Resuscitation of a Hanged Man (1991)
  • Jesus' Son (1992)
  • Already Dead: A California Gothic (1997)
  • The Name of the World (2000)
  • Seek: Reports from the Edges of America & Beyond (2001, essays)
  • Tree of Smoke (2007)
  • Nobody Move (2009)
  • Train Dreams (2011)
  • Soul of a Whore and Purvis: Two Plays in Verse (2012)
  • The Laughing Monsters (2014)
  • The Largesse of the Sea Maiden (2018, posthumous)

Adaptations

  • Jesus' Son (1999 film, dir. Alison Maclean)
  • Stars at Noon (2022 film, dir. Claire Denis, based on The Stars at Noon)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise, poetic prosefragmentary / vignette-based structureblend of metaphor and religious imagery
Recurring Motifs
drugs and addictionsalvation and atonementviolence and quotidian miracles

Health

  • liver cancer
    2016–2017
    Ultimately caused his death and affected his late-life output and posthumous recognition
  • drug and alcohol addiction (young adulthood)
    1970s–1983（断酒・断薬後復帰）
    Had major impact on his writing in the 1970s–early 1980s; after sobriety his literary productivity increased

Legacy

Denis Johnson was a major figure in late 20th- and early 21st-century American letters, acclaimed for works such as Jesus' Son and Tree of Smoke. His books continue to be read and studied after his death.

Museums

  • Harry Ransom Center (Denis Johnson papers) University of Texas at Austin, United States

Academic Societies

  • Academy of American Poets (profiled)

Archives

  • Papers held at the Harry Ransom Center (University of Texas at Austin)

In Popular Culture

  • Film adaptation of Jesus' Son (1999) and other adaptations have brought his work into popular culture

Quotes

  • Three Rules To Write By: Write naked. Write in blood. Write in exile.
    Source: Denis Johnson (commonly cited statement)

Trivia

  • Has a cameo in the film adaptation of Jesus' Son (1999) as a man stabbed in the eye by his wife
  • Spent childhood years in Germany, the Philippines, Japan and the United States
  • Struggled with drug and alcohol addiction through his twenties; got sober in 1978 and quit recreational drugs in 1983
  • In 2012 the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was not awarded, a controversial outcome in the year Train Dreams was a finalist