Josephine Johnson | |
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 | |
| Born | Josephine Winslow Johnson (1910-06-20)June 20, 1910 |
| Died | February 27, 1990(1990-02-27) (aged 79) Batavia, Ohio, US |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Education | Washington University |
| Genre | Novels, short stories, poetry |
| Subject | Nature |
| Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1935 O. Henry Award, 1934, 1935, 1942, 1943, 1944 |
Josephine Winslow Johnson (June 20, 1910 – February 27, 1990)[1][2] was an American novelist, poet, and essayist. She won thePulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1935 at age 24 for herfirst novel,Now in November. She is the youngest person to win the Pulitzer for Fiction.[3] Shortly thereafter, she publishedWinter Orchard, a collection of short stories that had previously appeared inThe Atlantic Monthly,Vanity Fair,The St. Louis Review, andHound & Horn. Of these stories, "Dark" won anO. Henry Award in 1934,[4] and "John the Six" won anO. Henry Award third prize the following year. Johnson continued writing short stories and won three more O. Henry Awards: for "Alexander to the Park" (1942), "The Glass Pigeon" (1943), and "Night Flight" (1944).
Johnson was born June 20, 1910, inKirkwood, Missouri. She attendedWashington University in St. Louis from 1926 to 1931, but did not earn a degree. She wrote her first novel,Now In November, while living in her mother's attic inWebster Groves, Missouri. She remained on her farm in Webster Groves and completedWinter Orchard in 1935. She published four more books before marrying Grant G. Cannon, editor in chief of theFarm Quarterly, in 1942. The couple moved toIowa City, where she taught at theUniversity of Iowa for the next three years. They moved toHamilton County, Ohio in 1947, where she publishedWildwood.
Johnson had three children: Terence, Ann, and Carol. The Cannons continued to move beyond the advancing urban sprawl ofCincinnati, finally settling on the wooded acreage inClermont County, Ohio, which is the setting ofThe Inland Island. In 1955, Washington University awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. She published four more books before her death, from pneumonia, on February 27, 1990, inBatavia, Ohio, at age 79.[2]
