Alaya Dawn Johnson | |
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![]() Johnson in 2013 | |
Born | 1982 (age 41–42) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Occupation | Writer |
Education | Columbia University (BA) |
Period | 2007–present |
Genre | Science fiction, fantasy, Solarpunk |
Notable works | The Summer Prince The Spirit Binders' |
Website | |
alayadawnjohnson |
Alaya Dawn Johnson (born 1982)[1] (/əˈlaɪə/)[2] is an American writer of speculative fiction.
Apart from short fiction, Johnson has published two urban fantasy novels about "vampire suffragette" Zephyr Hollis set in an alternate 1920s New York City,[3] and two novels set on islands resembling pre-modern Polynesia where people have learned to bind elemental powers to their commands.[4][5]
Her 2013 debut in the young adult fiction sector, the standalone novel The Summer Prince, is set on a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk Brazilian arcology ruled by a nanotech-empowered matriarchy.[6][7] Love Is the Drug, her 2014 stand-alone young adult novel, is set in Washington, D.C., and follows a prep-school student whose memory loss may be connected to a burgeoning global influenza pandemic.[8][9]
In February 2021 Johnson was the literary guest of honor and keynote speaker at the 39th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.[10]
Johnson was born in Washington, D.C.[1] She graduated from Columbia University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Languages and Cultures.[11][12]
Johnson lived in New York City[11] until 2014, when she moved to Mexico City.[13] She received a master's degree in Mesoamerican studies from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México for her thesis on fermented food and its ritual symbolism in pre-Columbian Mexico.[14]