Bio


Adam Johnson is a Professor of English with emphasis in creative writing at Stanford University. Winner of a Whiting Award and Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Academy in Berlin, he is the author of several books, including Fortune Smiles, which won the National Book Award, and the novel The Orphan Master’s Son, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. His stories have appeared in Esquire, GQ, Playboy, Harper's Magazine, Granta, The Paris Review, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and have been recognized with the Story Prize, The Sunday Times Short Story Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. His work has been translated into more than three-dozen languages. He was born in South Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. His teaching and research interests include the development of the novel, indigeneity, the oral tradition, counter narrative, trauma theory and speculative fiction.

Academic Appointments


  • Professor, English

Administrative Appointments


  • Professor, Stanford University (2015 - Present)
  • Associate Professor, Stanford University (2010 - 2015)
  • Senior Jones Lectureship, Stanford University (2007 - 2010)
  • Draper Lectureship, Stanford University (2006 - 2007)
  • Jones Lectureship, Stanford University (2005 - 2006)
  • Marsh McCall Lectureship, Stanford University (2004 - 2005)
  • Jones Lectureship, Stanford University (2001 - 2004)
  • Wallace Stegner Fellowship, Stanford University (1999 - 2001)

Honors & Awards


  • Holtzbrinck Fellowship, The American Academy in Berlin (2016)
  • The Story Prize, Story Prize Foundation (2015)
  • National Book Award, National Book Foundation (2015)
  • The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, The Sunday Times of London (2014)
  • Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation (2013)
  • Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2013)
  • Califomia Book Award, Gold Medal, Commonwealth Club of California. (2013)
  • Shortlist, IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (2013)
  • Longlist, American Library Association Andrew Carnegie Award (2013)
  • Finalist, PEN Center USA Fiction Award (2013)
  • Pulitzer Prize, Columbia University (2013)
  • Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award (2013)
  • Book of the Year, Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (2013)
  • Finalist, Northern California Book Award (2013)
  • Gina Berriault Literary Award, San Francisco State University. (2011)
  • Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts (2010)
  • Whiting Writers' Award, Whiting Foundation (2009)
  • Best American Short Stories, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2009)
  • California Book Award, Silver Medal, The Commonwealth Club of California. (2004)
  • Discover Great New Writers Award, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (2003)
  • Young Lion's Award Finalist, New York Public Library (2002)
  • Debut Writer of the Year, Amazon.com (2002)
  • Distinguished Dissertation Award, Florida State University (2001)
  • Dean's Fiction Prize, Florida State University (2001)
  • Sewanee Scholarship, University of the South (2000)
  • Kingsbury Fellowship, Florida State University (1997)
  • Kingsbury Fellowship, Florida State Unive rsity (1999)
  • Wallace Stegner Fellowship, Stanford University (1999)
  • Breadloaf Scholarship, Middlebury College (1999)
  • Glendon B. Swarthout Prize for New Fiction, Arizona State University (1992)

Professional Education


  • B.A, Arizona State University, Journalism (1992)
  • M.A, McNeese State University, English (1996)
  • M.F.A, McNeese State University, Creative Writing, Fiction (1996)
  • Ph.D., Florida State University, English (2000)

2023-24 Courses


Stanford Advisees


All Publications