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.