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George M. Johnson

Author of Mourning and Mysticism in First World War Literature and Beyond: Grappling With Ghosts (Palgrave Macmillan, now in paperback) and Still Life With Nudes (ArtAge). Books About
Scholar, Screenwriter,
Playwright, Children's Writer.

About

George grew up in Waterdown, Ontario, where he has fond early memories of weekly trips to the library with his Dad, an English teacher, and where he later worked (and read) as a student. His Mom was a watercolor painter. After many years as an English Professor George became fascinated by the more visual (and collaborative) forms of writing: drama, screenwriting and picture books.

He has won a number of awards in all of these genres. His screenplay Peace Pledge, the remarkable story of the Peace Pledge Union in 1930s Britain, won the Jury Award for Best War Screenplay in the OTB | Only The Best Film Awards, received Honorable Mention in the Euroscript Screenplay Competition and the New Renaissance Film Festival (London), and was an Official Finalist in the Cannes Screenplay Contest. His eco-comedy stage play, Boomerangst was successfully produced by Chimera Theatre in Kamloops in June, 2023. One of the show tunes, Climate Crisis, has been produced as a video: Climate Crisis – Official Music Video with Intensive Care – YouTube

As a screen and teleplay it has won several awards, including Best T.V. Pilot in the Wiki Screenplay Contest. His picture book Sophia’s Secrets (Clavis, 2023) won the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association Children’s Story competition and has been translated into Dutch, Romanian and Traditional Chinese. Another picture book, How Hope Became An Activist (Dixi Books) draws on activism he carried out with some kids on sweat-shop labour, Fair Trade clothing, and refugee aid.  It was a Finalist for the Montaigne Medal in the USA, competing with all genres.  Marisa and the Mountains (Simply Read Books 2021) was a Finalist in the San Francisco Writers Conference Writing Contest. It was selected as one of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Books for Kids and Teens 2021, and is a starred selection. It is also a Finalist in the Chocolate Lily Book Awards in B.C.  Aldo Renaldo and the Renegade Alphabet (Histria Kids, 2023) was also a Finalist in the San Francisco Writers Conference Contest. It received a five-star review from Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews.

George has lived among mountains in Kamloops, British Columbia for 30 years. Canoeing, camping, and cross-country skiing count among his outdoor passions. He teaches creative writing and modern literature, as has his wife and sometime collaborator Nina, at Thompson Rivers University. He tests all of his stories on their two kids, who somehow have become teenagers.

George believes in the power of literature to create empathy. Most of his work reflects his long-time advocacy of social justice, for which he received the YMCA Peace Medal in 2019.

How Hope Became an Activist

What is an activist? Why do we need them? Join Hope as she discovers how to make positive change on issues that matter from clothes made in fair trade to refugee aid - and to have fun at the same time!

How Hope Became An Activist was recently a Finalist for the Montaigne Medal in the USA, competing with all genres!

The Montaigne Medal is presented by the Eric Hoffer Awards to the most thought-provoking books, “books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought.”
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Marisa and the Mountains

Published in 2021 by Simply Read Books, Marisa and the Mountains has been praised by many reviewers, including a" Highly Recommended" by the Canadian Review of Materials.

It was selected as one of the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teen and is a starred selection, signifying "titles of exceptional calibre."

It is also a Finalist in the Chocolate Lily Book Awards in B.C.

"This is a sweet and simple story of acceptance and adjustment. .... I loved the author's captivating descriptions of the mountains and the sweetness of coming to terms with our surroundings. ~Darleen Wohlfell
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Sophia's Secrets

Sophia shares her secrets, from sneaky to toothy to hopeful, in delightful ways, including whispering one to the breeze and dropping another into a puddle, but the best way is to share one with her brother. Also published in Dutch, Romanian and Traditional Chinese!
Out now!

Aldo Renaldo and
the Renegade Alphabet:

Aldo's alphabet gets out of control! Will he be able to restore order before he has to recite it?
Out now!

Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction

Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction argues that literary critics have tended to distort the impact of pre-Freudian psychological discourses, including psychical research, on Modern British Fiction. Psychoanalysis has received undue attention over a more typical British eclecticism, embraced by now-forgotten figures including Frederic Myers and William McDougall Buy Now

Mourning and Mysticism in First World War Literature and Beyond: Grappling With Ghosts

This book traces how iconic writers - including Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M. Barrie, Rudyard Kipling, Virginia Woolf, Wilfred Owen, and Aldous Huxley - shaped their response to the loss of loved ones in the First World War through their embrace of mysticism. Buy Now

Excavating Modernity: Physical, Temporal and Psychological Strata in Literature, 1900-1930.

This book scrutinizes physical, temporal and psychological strata across early twentieth-century literature, focusing on geological and archaeological tropes and conceptions of the stratified psyche. Buy Now

Still Life With Nudes

Winner of the National Playwriting Award: A group of high-spirited seniors, the Ancient Acorns, stage a sit-in at a gallery that just happens to be a former water treatment plant. A fracas erupts! Buy Now


Out now!

Sophia's Secrets (New York: Clavis Books, March, 2023): In this intimate first-person story for 4-6-year olds, Sophia confides how she shares her secrets, from sneaky to toothy to hopeful, in delightful ways. (Clavis Publishing, 2023).

How Avery became An Environmentalist (London: Dixi Books, 2023): After nearly being stung, Avery learns more about the threats to bees and builds a Mason bee house. (Second book in the Activism for Kids series, Dixi Books, 2023).

Aldo Renaldo and the Renegade Alphabet (Las Vegas: Histria Kids, August, 2023.): Aldo's alphabet gets out of control! Will he be able to restore order before he has to recite it?

Boomerangst. An Eco-comedy. Retirement Rebellion With Rock Music ( Chimera and Pavilion Theatre, June 8-17th, 2023)


How Hope Became an Activist

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