Daisy Johnson (writer)

Daisy Johnson
Born 1990
Paignton
Occupation Writer
Language English
Nationality British
Alma mater Lancaster University, Somerville College, Oxford
Genre Fiction, short stories
Notable works Everything Under (novel)

Daisy Johnson (born 1990[1]) is a British novelist and short story writer. Her debut novel, Everything Under, was short-listed for the 2018 Man Booker Prize.[2]

Biography

Johnson was born in Paignton in 1990[1] and grew up around Saffon Waldon.[3] She gained her Bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Lancaster University, before studying a Master's degree in Creative Writing at Somerville College, Oxford[4] where she also worked at Blackwell's.[5] While at Oxford, she won the 2014 AM Heath Prize for Fiction[6] while working on her first short story collection, and had short stories published in The Warwick Review[7] and The Boston Review.[8] Shortly after, she won the 2016 Harper's Bazaar Short Story Prize for What The House Remembers.[9]

In 2015, she won a two book deal with Jonathan Cape for a collection and novel after a publishing auction.[10] That collection, Fen, was published in 2017. It is set in the Fens of England, drawing upon the memories of the area where she grew up. It comprises a set of linked short stories, focusing on the experiences of women and girls in a small town: she describes the collection as liminal and mythic.[11] The collection won the 2017 Edge Hill Short Story Prize.[12]

Johnson followed Fen with her debut novel, Everything Under, in 2018. It focuses the relationship between Gretel, a lexicographer, and her mother, set against a backdrop of the British countryside. Growing up on a canal boat together, they invented a language between them, before her mother abandons her at the age of sixteen, and the novel starts sixteen years later with a phone call. Johnson worked on the novel for around four years[3], starting it at the same time as her short story collection to challenge herself to write something longer - she went through at least five drafts of the book, several changes to characters and setting,[13] with the book being titled Eggtooth for a time prior to publication.[14]

Everything Under was short-listed for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, making Johnson the youngest author to be short-listed for the prize.[15]

She currently lives in Oxford.[16] Her favourite writers include Stephen King, Evie Wyld, Helen Oyeyemi and John Burnside, and poets include Robin Robertson and Sharon Olds.[17] She states her Mastermind specialist subjects would be either Stephen King or Buffy The Vampire Slayer and if she had been unsuccessful as a writer, suggests that she would have been a shepherd.[1]

Bibliography

Novels

Short Story Collections

    Awards

    References

    1. 1 2 3 "Daisy Johnson: "If I weren't living off my writing I'd be a shepherd"". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    2. ↑ Flood, Alison (2018-07-23). "Man Booker prize 2018 longlist includes graphic novel for the first time". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
    3. 1 2 "Lancaster graduate is youngest ever Booker Prize nominee". www.lancaster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    4. ↑ Oxford, University of. "Alumna Daisy Johnson Shortlisted for Man Booker Prize 2018". Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    5. ↑ "Oxford author youngest ever on Man Booker shortlist". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    6. 1 2 "MSt News: Daisy Johnson wins the 2014 AM Heath Prize". Master's in Creative Writing. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    7. ↑ "The Warwick Review Vol.8 No.1 Mar 2014". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    8. ↑ Johnson, Daisy (2015-01-07). "There Was a Fox in the Bedroom". Boston Review. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    9. 1 2 "Bazaar's Short Story Competition". Harper's BAZAAR. 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    10. ↑ "MSt alumna Daisy Johnson "On getting an offer for my writing …"". Master's in Creative Writing. 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    11. ↑ Foyles (2016-06-21), Daisy Johnson on Fen | Short stories, creative writing, landscape and gender, retrieved 2018-10-13
    12. ↑ "Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2017 winner announced - News". News. 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    13. ↑ Kushner, Rachel; Burns, Anna; Edugyan, Esi; Robertson, Robin; Powers, Richard; Johnson, Daisy (2018-10-13). "How I write: Man Booker shortlist authors reveal their inspirations". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    14. 1 2 "2017 Longlist - The Sunday Times Short Story Awards". shortstoryaward.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    15. ↑ "Daisy Johnson is youngest Booker nominee". BBC News. 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    16. ↑ "Daisy Johnson". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    17. ↑ "Web Exclusive Interview: Daisy Johnson -". American Short Fiction. 2017-04-24. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
    18. ↑ "MSt alumna Daisy Johnson longlisted for Sunday Times EFG Short Story award". Master's in Creative Writing. 2017-02-13. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
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