Joe Johnson Writes

My elevator pitch: “If you like Flannery O’Connor, Franz Kafka, and George Saunders, you could do worse than Joe Johnson.”

A year before the pandemic, I moved from central Washington to Portland. Central Washington gave me a love of nature, space, and the mundane. And the city has injected my writing with absurdism and curiosity. Of course, my obsessions with religion and art are perpetual.

Usually, I write fiction. My stories are being tested in workshops and readings, refined into whip-smart and penetrating tales. Some have snuck out into publications. Most are lurking on hard drives or in the garage.

I hope you enjoy.

Joe Johnson is an award-winning Portland-based writer. As an undergrad, he studied art and education. As a graduate student, he received degrees in theology (MA Fuller Theological), literature (MA Central Washington U), and creative writing (MFA Rainier Writing Workshop). He knows heartache and joy.