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George M. Johnson
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, including the 2007 Canadian National Playwriting Competition for his comic play Still Life With Nudes, published by ArtAge. His screenplay The Wonder was a Finalist in the British Independent Film Festival Competition and in the Script Doctor Contest of Contest Winners Competition in L.A. His screenplay Peace Pledge won the Wildsound Screenplay Competition, 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 picture book Sophia’s Secrets won the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Children’s Story competition. Another one, Marisa and the Mountains will be published by Simply Read Books in spring of 2020. It was a Finalist in the San Francisco Writers Conference Writing Contest, as was his unconventional alphabet story, Aldo Renaldo and the Renegade Alphabet.
He believes in the power of literature to create empathy, and all of his work reflects his long-time advocacy of social justice.
For over 25 years he has been a Professor in the English and Modern Languages Department at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, where he teaches creative writing and Modern literature, as does his wife and sometime collaborator Nina. He can be reached at [email protected].
He likes to tell Jellybean stories (just ask Sophia and Ben), make puns and sing.
Canoeing, camping, and cross-country skiing count among his outdoor passions. Living surrounded by mountains, with a wife from the prairies, inspired him to write Marisa and the Mountains, represented by Storm Literary Agency.
Mourning and Mysticism in First World War Literature and Beyond: Grappling With Ghosts
Still Life With Nudes
Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction
Marisa and the Mountains
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
Excavating Modernity: Physical, Temporal and Psychological Strata in Literature, 1900-1930.
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!
Out Now!
