2008 Woodie Awards
Voice and vision
English professor Peter Johnson publishes first novel
Kristina H. Reardon '08
Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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It was a 16-year-old kid, not a literary agent or a colleague, who finally forced Dr. Peter Johnson, professor of English, to write his recently released first novel, What Happened.
That kid is the narrator of the book, and his voice had been echoing through Johnson's head for years. Always wanting to write a novel, Johnson focused on short stories and poetry instead because he simply didn't have the time to devote to a novel. But one summer, things changed.
"One summer, [the novel's] 16-year-old narrator kept bugging me, as 16-year-olds often do," Johnson said. "I had the opening from the beginning, just a voice warning the reader about the way he was going to tell the story."
It's with that warning that Johnson begins the unnamed narrator's story: "I don't know what the truth is, or who needs to hear it, but I know what happened . . ."
He wrote the narrator's story in six weeks, but it would take another year of revising before Johnson was ready to put the novel into print. It was officially released in the beginning of March and has quickly gained acclaim. In April, Johnson will be honored by Rhode Island College's Association for the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature for What Happened, along with two other regional writers.
But Johnson is quick to note that it wasn't his goal to write a so-called young adult novel. He says he just wanted to tell a story.
"Novelists who deliberately try to write young adult fiction talk down to their readers," he said. "With What Happened, I just tried to write a good novel that happened to have a 16-year-old narrator.
"Why aren't Jane Eyre or Candide called young adult novels?" he asked. "Any 13-year-old can read them."
And anyone-adolescent or otherwise-can relate to the existential crisis of that 16-year-old kid who wouldn't leave Johnson alone.
"He's asking, 'What is it all about?' And don't we all do that every day?" he said.
Divided into five sections, each part of the book begins with a quotation-from philosophers, theologians, and even Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne.
That kid is the narrator of the book, and his voice had been echoing through Johnson's head for years. Always wanting to write a novel, Johnson focused on short stories and poetry instead because he simply didn't have the time to devote to a novel. But one summer, things changed.
"One summer, [the novel's] 16-year-old narrator kept bugging me, as 16-year-olds often do," Johnson said. "I had the opening from the beginning, just a voice warning the reader about the way he was going to tell the story."
It's with that warning that Johnson begins the unnamed narrator's story: "I don't know what the truth is, or who needs to hear it, but I know what happened . . ."
He wrote the narrator's story in six weeks, but it would take another year of revising before Johnson was ready to put the novel into print. It was officially released in the beginning of March and has quickly gained acclaim. In April, Johnson will be honored by Rhode Island College's Association for the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature for What Happened, along with two other regional writers.
But Johnson is quick to note that it wasn't his goal to write a so-called young adult novel. He says he just wanted to tell a story.
"Novelists who deliberately try to write young adult fiction talk down to their readers," he said. "With What Happened, I just tried to write a good novel that happened to have a 16-year-old narrator.
"Why aren't Jane Eyre or Candide called young adult novels?" he asked. "Any 13-year-old can read them."
And anyone-adolescent or otherwise-can relate to the existential crisis of that 16-year-old kid who wouldn't leave Johnson alone.
"He's asking, 'What is it all about?' And don't we all do that every day?" he said.
Divided into five sections, each part of the book begins with a quotation-from philosophers, theologians, and even Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne.