T. Geronimo Johnson wins Simpson Family Literary Prize

T. Geronimo Johnson, a native of New Orleans, has won the inaugural Simpson Family Literary Prize, which awards $50,000 to “an author of fiction in the middle of a burgeoning career.” Johnson is the author of “Welcome to Braggsville,” longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award, the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and winner of the 2015 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Johnson is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford and professor of writing at University of California–Berkeley, among so many other honors and positions. His first novel, “Hold It ‘Til It Hurts,” was a finalist for the 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.

Read Louisiana Book News' review of "Welcome to Braggsville" here.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.