Author
Adam Johnson
Birth Date
July 12, 1967
(58 Years)
Associated Country
United States
Adam Johnson is an American novelist and short story writer known for his imaginative fiction and exploration of identity, power, and political systems. Raised in South Dakota and Arizona, Johnson studied journalism at Arizona State University before earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from McNeese State University. His work often combines dark humor, emotional depth, and sharp social commentary.
Johnson gained major recognition with novels such as Parasites Like Us (2003) and The Orphan Master’s Son (2012). The latter, set in North Korea, examines life under a totalitarian regime through the story of a man struggling to survive and shape his identity. The novel earned Johnson the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2013 and established him as one of the leading contemporary American authors.
In addition to his novels, Johnson has published acclaimed short fiction, including the collection Fortune Smiles (2015), which won the National Book Award. He has also taught creative writing at Stanford University, where he continues to mentor emerging writers.
Johnson gained major recognition with novels such as Parasites Like Us (2003) and The Orphan Master’s Son (2012). The latter, set in North Korea, examines life under a totalitarian regime through the story of a man struggling to survive and shape his identity. The novel earned Johnson the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2013 and established him as one of the leading contemporary American authors.
In addition to his novels, Johnson has published acclaimed short fiction, including the collection Fortune Smiles (2015), which won the National Book Award. He has also taught creative writing at Stanford University, where he continues to mentor emerging writers.
Books
The Wayfinder 2026
Talking corpses, poetic parrots, and a fan that wafts the breath of life—this is the world young Korero finds herself thrust into when a mysterious visitor lands on her island, a place so remote its...
Fortune Smiles 2016
Throughout these six stories, Pulitzer Prize winner Adam Johnson delves deep into love and loss, natural disasters, the influence of technology, and how the political shapes the personal, giving voice...
Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother—a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang—and an influential father who runs a work camp for orphans. Superiors in the North Korean state soon recognize the boy’s...
Parasites Like Us 2004
Hailed as "remarkable" by the New Yorker, Emporium earned Adam Johnson comparisons to Kurt Vonnegut and T.C. Boyle. In his acclaimed first novel, Parasites Like Us, Johnson takes us on an enthralling...
Emporium 2003
An ATF raid, a moonshot gone wrong, a busload of female cancer victims determined to live life to the fullest—these are the compelling terrains Adam Johnson explores in his electrifying debut...