Bret Anthony Johnston

Bret Anthony Johnston
Johnston at the 2023 Texas Book Festival.
Born
Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Alma materMiami University (BA)
Iowa Writers’ Workshop (MFA)
OccupationsShort story writer, novelist, essayist, college lecturer
Writing career
GenreFiction
Notable worksCorpus Christi: Stories (2004)
Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer (2008)
Waiting for Lightning (2012)
Notable awards5 Under 35 Honoree (2006)
NEA Fellowship (2006)
Guggenheim Fellow (2026)
Websitewww.bret-anthony-johnston.com

Bret Anthony Johnston is an American author, novelist and essayist. He is the author of the novels Remember Me Like This and We Burn Daylight, as well as the short story collection, Corpus Christi: Stories.[1] He is the editor of the non-fiction work, Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer. He won the 2017 Sunday Times Short Story Award.[2] In 2026, Johnston was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.[3]

Early life and education

Johnston was born and raised in Texas.[4] He is a graduate of Miami University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in 2002.[5][6]

Career

Johnston was the recipient of a 2006 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship.[7] His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Esquire, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Oxford American, Tin House, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, Slate.com, All Things Considered, and in short story anthologies.[8]

His debut short story collection, Corpus Christi: Stories, received the 2005 Steven Turner Award for Best First Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters.[9] It was shortlisted for Ireland’s Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.[10]

His debut novel, Remember Me Like This, was a New York Times Notable Book of the year and winner of the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize.[11][8]

Johnston's second novel, We Burn Daylight, was published in July 2024. It received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews which stated, "Johnston adeptly shifts between mundane moments and episodes of vivid drama...an evocative reimagining of the Romeo and Juliet story set amid the catastrophic collapse of a religious cult."[12] We Burn Daylight was awarded the 2025 Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters and the 2024 Writers' League of Texas Book Award in Fiction.[13][14][15]

In 2012, the documentary film Waiting for Lightning premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and was released by Samuel Goldwyn Films.[8][16] The film was written by Johnston and directed by Jacob Rosenberg.[17]

Johnston is the Director of the Michener Center for Writers at The University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches fiction writing.[18][19] He was previously the Director of the Creative Writing program at Harvard University.[8][20]

Johnston is also a former professional skateboarder.[21] He briefly toured the U.S. with a sponsor and professional skateboarding crew before enrolling in graduate school.[22] His passion for skateboarding comes up frequently in his writing and interviews.[23]

In February 2026, Johnston released his second short story collection, Encounters with Unexpected Animals: Stories.[24][25]

Awards and honors

Works

Fiction

Collections

  • Corpus Christi: Stories. Random House. 2004. ISBN 9780812971873.
  • Encounters with Unexpected Animals: Stories. Random House. 2026. ISBN 978-0399590153.

Novels

  • Remember Me Like This. Random House. 2014. ISBN 978-1400062126.
  • We Burn Daylight: A Novel. Random House. 2024. ISBN 978-0399590122.

Non-fiction

  • Bret Anthony Johnston, ed. (2008). Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer. Random House. ISBN 978-0812975482.

Film

  • Waiting for Lightning (screenwriter) (2012)

References

  1. ↑ "Books". Bret Anthony Johnston.
  2. 1 2 Benedicte Page (27 April 2017). "Bret Anthony Johnston wins Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award". The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 Brittany Allen. "Meet this year's literary Guggenheim fellows". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2026-04-14.
  4. ↑ "Bret Anthony Johnston". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  5. ↑ "Writing the Aftermath: An Interview with Bret Anthony Johnston". Fiction Writers Review. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  6. ↑ "Suji Kwock Kim, Lucy Ives, & Bret Anthony Johnston, named 2026 Guggenheim Fellows". writersworkshop.uiona.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  7. 1 2 "Bret Anthony Johnston, 2006 Prose". arts.gov. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "UT Austin, Department of English". Retrieved 2026-04-14.
  9. 1 2 "Awards 2000-2009". texasinstituteofletters.org. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  10. ↑ "Frank O'Connor Prize Shortlist Announced". Poets & Writers. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  11. 1 2 "McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize". The Writer's Center. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  12. ↑ "We Burn Daylight, review". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  13. ↑ "TEXAS INSTITUTE OF LETTERS ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2025 LITERARY AWARDS" (PDF). texasinstituteofletters.org. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  14. 1 2 "Award Winning Texas Authors". lonestar-lit.com. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  15. 1 2 "Congratulations 2024 Book Award Winners & Finalists". writersleague.org. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  16. ↑ "Ten Questions with Bret Anthony Johnston". Poets & Writers. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  17. ↑ "Movie Review, Danny Way rolls through "Waiting for Lightning"". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  18. ↑ "Contact – Michener Center for Writers".
  19. ↑ "Guggenheim Foundation Names 2 UT Faculty to 101st Class of Fellows". UT News. April 17, 2026.
  20. 1 2 "Bret Johnston Wins 2017 EFG Short Story Award". Harvard University, Department of English. Retrieved 2026-04-14.
  21. ↑ Rice, Joel. "Column 1: Skateboarder: An Interview with Writer Bret Anthony Johnston". McSweeney's. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  22. ↑ Gonzalez James, Elizabeth. "Drafting the Story Until It Proves You Wrong". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  23. ↑ Drew, Caroline. "Acclaimed Author Bret Anthony Johnston Flips the Page". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  24. ↑ "Encounters with Unexpected Animals, review". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  25. ↑ Petit, Rhys Plantilla. "The House Itself: A Conversation with Bret Anthony Johnston". Aquifer: The Florida Review. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  26. ↑ "2006 Honorees". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  27. ↑ "Announcing the 2026 Guggenheim Fellows". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. April 14, 2026.
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