Wikipedia

E. K. Johnston

Emily Kate Johnston, who publishes as E.K. Johnston, is a Canadian novelist and forensic archaeologist.[2]

E. K. Johnston
Born
Emily Kate Johnston

Huron East, Ontario, Canada[1]
Occupation
Genre
Notable works
Website
ekjohnston.ca

Career

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Johnston started writing fan fiction in 2002, and wrote her first manuscript in 2009.[3] Her first book, The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim, was published in 2014, and is set in an alternate present-day Ontario where dragons are both real and a menace. A review in The New York Times called the book "a clever first step in the career of a novelist who [...] has many more songs to sing."[4] It was nominated for the William C. Morris Award in 2015.[2] A sequel, Prairie Fire, followed in 2015.[5]

Johnston's third book was A Thousand Nights, a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. C.S. Lewis's descriptions of the desert in The Horse and His Boy inspired the setting.[6] A companion book, Spindle, followed in 2016, which was a reinterpretation of Sleeping Beauty.[7]

Her fifth novel, Exit, Pursued By A Bear, was published in 2016. Inspired by Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, it tells the story of cheerleading captain Hermione Winters, who discovers she is pregnant after being sexually assaulted at a camp party. It was written partially as a response to Stephen Woodworth's 2013 bill to re-criminalise abortion.[8] It was named a book of the year by NPR,[9] Publishers Weekly,[10] and the New York Public Library.[11] It won the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Amy Mathers Teen Book Award in 2017.[12]

Johnston was asked to wrote a book on the Star Wars character Ahsoka Tano,[13] published in October 2016.[14] The novel, Ahsoka, fills in the gap between the character's appearances in the TV series The Clone Wars and Rebels. Johnston's second Star Wars novel, Queen's Shadow, was released in March 2019.[15] Featuring Padmé Amidala, Queen's Shadow is set in the years between the events of films The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.[16] Additionally, she co-wrote (with Ashley Eckstein) the story "By Whatever Sun" focusing on Miara Larte, a character Johnston created in Ahsoka, and set during the events of A New Hope.[17]

Johnston's novel That Inevitable Victorian Thing is an alternate future young adult romance, published in 2017.[18]

Johnston released another Star Wars novel, Queen's Peril, on June 2, 2020.[19]

Personal life

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Johnston is biromantic and demisexual.[20][21]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim (2014)
  • Prairie Fire (2015)
  • A Thousand Nights (2015)
  • Spindle (2016) (also published as Kingdom of Sleep)
  • Exit, Pursued By A Bear (2016)
  • That Inevitable Victorian Thing (2017)
  • The Afterward (2019)
  • Aetherbound (2021)
  • Pretty Furious (2024)
  • Titan of the Stars (2025)
  • Sky on Fire (2025)

Short stories

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  • "Work In Progress" (2017) (in Three Sides of A Heart: Stories about Love Triangles, edited by Natalie C. Parker)

Star Wars

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  • Ahsoka (2016)
  • "By Whatever Sun" (2017) (with Ashley Eckstein, in From A Certain Point Of View)
  • Queen's Shadow (2019)
  • Queen's Peril (2020)
  • Queen's Hope (2022)
  • Crimson Climb (2023)

Dungeons & Dragons

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Awards

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Year Nominated work Award Result
2015 The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim William C. Morris Award Shortlisted
2017 Exit, Pursued by a Bear Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Winner

References

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  1. ↑ "Johnston, E K". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, eds. John Clute and David Langford. Entry by Clute, updated 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  2. 1 2 Rawlins, Sharon (2015-01-28). "2015 Morris Award: An Interview with Finalist E. K. Johnston". The Hub. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  3. ↑ Mealy, Denise (27 July 2016). "E.K. Johnston Discusses A Thousand Nights". The Children's Book Review. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  4. ↑ Kois, Dan (9 May 2014). "Where There's Smoke". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  5. ↑ "PRAIRIE FIRE". Kirkus Reviews. December 21, 2014.
  6. ↑ Johnston, E. K. (2015-10-14). "CS Lewis's The Horse and His Boy: the best guide to writing deserts?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  7. ↑ Biedenharn, Isabella (May 10, 2016). "Read an excerpt from E.K. Johnston's 'Spindle' – exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  8. ↑ "YA author E.K. Johnston on what we can learn from William Shakespeare". CBC News. April 23, 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  9. ↑ "Exit, Pursued By A Bear". NPR. December 6, 2016. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  10. ↑ "Best Books 2016". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  11. ↑ "New York Public Library Reveals its List of Best Books for Kids and Teens Just in Time for The Holidays". The New York Public Library. November 23, 2016. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  12. ↑ "Amy Mathers Teen Book Award". The Canadian Children's Book Centre. Retrieved 2026-05-10.
  13. ↑ Church, Ricky (2016-03-31). "Star Wars: Ahsoka YA novel announced". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  14. ↑ Ratcliffe, Amy (2016-03-31). "New STAR WARS Novel Featuring Ahsoka Tano Announced (Exclusive)". Nerdist. Archived from the original on 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  15. ↑ Chhibber, Preeti (2018-08-01). "E.K. Johnston and the women of Star Wars". Syfy. Archived from the original on 2018-10-05. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  16. ↑ Gardner, Kate (23 July 2018). "It's the Padmé Amidala Renaissance, We're All Just Living In It". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  17. ↑ "'By Whatever Sun' - From a Certain Point of View". Banthaskull.com. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2026-05-10.
  18. ↑ Carbone, Emma (August 1, 2017). "That Inevitable Victorian Thing". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2026-05-10.
  19. ↑ Dowell, Meg (2 June 2020). "Queen's Peril proves Star Wars stories are best told out of order". Dork Side of the Force. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  20. ↑ Baume, Matt (2019-06-13). "This New Fantasy Novel Imagines A World Where Queerness Is Actually Accepted". Them. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  21. ↑ Johnston, E.K. (2016-06-27). "Love Letters In D-major". Emily Kate Johnston. Archived from the original on November 26, 2024.
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