T. Geronimo Johnson, a visiting professor at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa, has been selected to receive the 2015 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. The award, which comes with a $10,000 prize, is awarded by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. It honors outstanding work by young African American fiction writers. Professor Johnson will be honored at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on January 21.
Johnson is being honored for his book Welcome to Braggsville (William Morrow, 2015). The novel tells the story of four students from the University of California, Berkeley, who stage a protest at a Civil War reenactment event in Georgia. An earlier novel by Professor Johnson was Hold It ‘Til It Hurts (Coffee House Press, 2012).
Professor Johnson is a native of New Orleans. He holds a master’s degree in language, literacy, and culture from the University of California, Berkeley and a master of fine arts degree from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.
Congratulations, Professor Johnson!