BIOGRAPHY::::
 Lori
Johnson
has a master's degree in Urban
Anthropology from the University of Memphis.
Her stories and essays have appeared in
Upscale Magazine,
Memphis Magazine, The Commercial Appeal, The Tri-State Defender,
The Emrys Journal, The Best of Memphis Anthology 2003
and Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review.
She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina
with her husband and their young son.
For additional information about Lori,
visit the profile page of her blog "Lori's Old School Mix" at
www.loridjohnson.blogspot.com.
INTERVIEWS
EXTENDED BIO
(4 QUESTIONS FOR LORI JOHNSON)
Q) What do you view as the biggest
misconception about your work?
A) Due to my lean toward humor, I think there is a desire
by some to categorize, if not outright dismiss, what I do
as light-hearted, frivolous and nothing more. But make no
mistake, I am very deliberate and quite serious about the
manner in which I go about poking fun. I love parody and
satire and quite often, when I write, I am attempting to
make subtle and covert use of both. Also, I tend to employ
humor the way many African Americans (oral story-tellers and
comedians of old, in particular) have traditionally used
it--as a mask for hurt, a cover for outrage and a way to
illuminate those things “polite” folks would rather not
openly address.
Q) Given that you earned both a BA
and a MA in urban anthropology, one might assume that you're
a fan of Zora Neale Hurston. Is that true?
A) Not unlike Zora, another Black woman/ writer/
anthropologist, I think my tendency to weave folkways, folk
speech and folk symbolism into my work is largely what
distinguishes it from that of other African American writers
of contemporary fiction. But to be honest, I prefer
Hurston's "non-fiction" over her fiction. Mules and Men is
my favorite text by Hurston. What both amuses and
fascinates me about Zora is that it's difficult to tell just
how much of what she said or wrote was fact, and how much
was fiction. She appeared to take pleasure in blurring the
lines between the two, both in her work and in her personal
life. What I admire most about the tilted hat-wearing Ms.
Hurston was her flamboyance and her audaciousness. She, I
think, was very much "a natural woman.”
Q) Both of your novels, After The
Dance, and A Natural Woman are full of rich musical
references, from blues and R & B to jazz. Why is that? And
will that be an on-going feature of your work?
A) Ever since I was a child, music has been a huge part of
my every day existence. I grew up listening to my mother's
Aretha Franklin and Al Green, my father's Miles and Coltrane
as well as the down-home blues and funky R & B tunes that
thumped, wailed and shook the walls of the dark,
smoke-filled North Memphis grills and cafes that kept one of
my grandmother's gainfully employed.
In a larger sense, I think so much of who we are, where
we are and what we've been through as African Americans and
as individuals who live, love and struggle in our own little
private worlds (the good as well as the bad) is expressed
quite eloquently through the music we produce. When it
comes to writing, I view music almost like a spice,
something that adds flavor to a piece and lends it a bit of
texture. For me beneath the words and sometimes between
them, there's always music, whether a throb, a hum, a quiet
melody or a rhythmic beat.
Q) Who are some of your favorite
writers & authors?
A) Toni Cade Bambara and Flannery O'Connor are at the top my
list of favorites, specifically Bambara's short story
collection, Gorilla, My Love and O'Connor's A Good Man Is
Hard To Find. I'm a fan of a lot of Toni Morrison's early
work (The Bluest Eye, Sula and The Song Of Solomon) and
quite a bit of Alice Walker's short fiction (In Love and
Trouble) and non-fiction (In Search of Our Mother's
Gardens). Some of the other authors I enjoy include, Tina
McElroy Ansa, Margaret Atwood, Bertice Berry, Rick
Bragg, Pearl Cleage, Ernest Gaines, Edward P. Jones,
Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Suzan-Lori Parks and Martha
Southgate . . . to name a few.
|
