Podcast appearances and mentions of jocelyn nicole johnson

It's episode 208 and time for us to talk about our Reading Resolutions for 2025! We discuss our love of spreadsheets, the churn of books in public libraries, literacy, unschooling, and more!  You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray

La chronique de Josef Schovanec : Le guitariste de jazz français Django Reinhardt, né le 23 janvier 1910. La romancière et scénariste française Marianne Levy pour son livre "Les Comédies romantiques" (Hoëbeke). D'Audrey Hepburn et Gregory Peck à Renée Zellweger et Colin Firth, en passant par Julia Roberts et Hugh Grant dans Coup de foudre à Notting Hill, les comédies romantiques sont depuis des décennies un parfait miroir de nos mœurs, désirs et fantasmes amoureux. Parfois prévisibles, elles sont pourtant plébiscitées, et souvent culte. Depuis l'invention du genre dans les années trente, en passant par la révolution Quand Harry rencontre Sally et cet orgasme simulé en plein restaurant, les comédies romantiques poursuivent leur chemin sur ce même mode : renverser les clichés et les détourner. Marianne Levy les passe au peigne fin et revisite l'univers symbolique de plus de 100 films culte à travers neuf temps essentiels d'un scénario de comédie romantique, du premier regard au happy ending. Retour en extraits sur la longévité de ce genre et les codes qui font son succès. Le coup de coeur de Gorian Delpâture : "Mon nom dans le noir" de Jocelyn Nicole Johnson (Albin Michel). Alors que l'Amérique est en proie au chaos, aux catastrophes climatiques et à des pannes massives, le quartier de First Street, à Charlottesville (Virginie), est attaqué par des suprémacistes blancs. Un petit groupe hétéroclite parvient à fuir les enragés à bord d'un bus abandonné. Avec à sa tête une jeune femme noire, Da'Naisha Love, il trouve refuge à Monticello, la plantation historique de Thomas Jefferson, une terre désertée de tous, sauf de ses fantômes. Malgré la violence alentour, la vie s'organise au cœur de cette petite communauté naissante, par-delà les barrières sociales et raciales. Mais après dix-neuf jours d'une paix fragile, la terreur se rapproche. Da'Naisha glisse alors le récit de leurs journées de lutte entre les pages d'un livre de la bibliothèque… Le talk-show culturel de Jérôme Colin. Avec, dès 11h30, La Bagarre dans la Discothèque, un jeu musical complétement décalé où la créativité et la mauvaise foi font loi. À partir de midi, avec une belle bande de chroniqueurs, ils explorent ensemble tous les pans de la culture belge et internationale sans sacralisation, pour découvrir avec simplicité, passion et humour. Merci pour votre écoute Entrez sans Frapper c'est également en direct tous les jours de la semaine de 11h30 à 13h sur www.rtbf.be/lapremiere Retrouvez tous les épisodes de Entrez sans Frapper sur notre plateforme Auvio.be : https://auvio.rtbf.be/emission/8521 Et si vous avez apprécié ce podcast, n'hésitez pas à nous donner des étoiles ou des commentaires, cela nous aide à le faire connaître plus largement.

In this episode, authors Jocelyn Nicole Johnson and Rebecca Makkai discuss their work and Johnson's acclaimed collection short story collection My Monticello. This conversation originally took place at the American Writers Festival on May 15, 2022 and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME About My Monticello: A young woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and [...]

In this episode, authors Jocelyn Nicole Johnson and Rebecca Makkai discuss their work and Johnson's acclaimed collection short story collection My Monticello. This conversation originally took place at the American Writers Festival on May 15, 2022 and was recorded live. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME About My Monticello: A young woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings driven from her neighborhood by a white militia. A university professor studying racism by conducting a secret social experiment on his own son. A single mother desperate to buy her first home even as the world hurtles toward catastrophe. Each fighting to survive in America. Tough-minded, vulnerable, and brave, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson's precisely imagined debut explores burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging. Set in the near future, the eponymous novella, "My Monticello," tells of a diverse group of Charlottesville neighbors fleeing violent white supremacists. Led by Da'Naisha, a young Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, they seek refuge in Jefferson's historic plantation home in a desperate attempt to outlive the long-foretold racial and environmental unravelling within the nation. In "Control Negro," hailed by Roxane Gay as "one hell of story," a university professor devotes himself to the study of racism and the development of ACMs (average American Caucasian males) by clinically observing his own son from birth in order to "painstakingly mark the route of this Black child too, one whom I could prove was so strikingly decent and true that America could not find fault in him unless we as a nation had projected it there." Johnson's characters all seek out home as a place and an internal state, whether in the form of a Nigerian widower who immigrates to a meager existence in the city of Alexandria, finding himself adrift; a young mixed-race woman who adopts a new tongue and name to escape the landscapes of rural Virginia and her family; or a single mother who seeks salvation through "Buying a House Ahead of the Apocalypse." United by these characters' relentless struggles against reality and fate, My Monticello is a formidable book that bears witness to this country's legacies and announces the arrival of a wildly original new voice in American fiction. JOCELYN NICOLE JOHNSON is the author of My Monticello, a fiction debut that was called "a masterly feat" by the New York Times and finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Johnson has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her writing appears in Guernica, The Guardian and elsewhere. Her short story "Control Negro" was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories 2018, guest edited by Roxane Gay, who called it, "one hell of a story" and read live by LeVar Burton as part of PRI's Selected Shorts series. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia. REBECCA MAKKAI is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton sit down with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson—author of Ursa's Season Two, Episode 3 story, "Virginia Is Not Your Home"—to discuss her acclaimed debut collection, My Monticello, and the journey of its making. Johnson talks about her writing as a direct response to historical events as they occur, much of her work centering Virginia as home, and grappling with complicated histories, experiences, and ideas around identity. Johnson addresses the themes that occur throughout her collection, such as that of loneliness, belonging, resistance, violence, and salvation. Deesha and Dawnie dive into questions about perspective, voice, character- and world-building, the writing and revision process, and perseverance as a writer: “Control what you can control, which is the writing. Enjoy the writing. Do your best with the writing. What matters is the writing. I just think you want to be thoughtful, but put that thought and care into that part of it, because that's the part that you have the most control.”Reading List: "Virginia Is Not Your Home" (Ursa Short Fiction) My Monticello (Jocelyn Nicole Johnson) My Monticello audiobook (Audible) Corregidora (Gayl Jones) Octavia Butler Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Charles Yu Beloved (Toni Morrison) Danielle Evans Jamel Brinkley The World Doesn't Require You (Rion Amilcar Scott) About the AuthorJocelyn Nicole Johnson is the author of My Monticello, a fiction debut that was called "a masterly feat" by the New York Times, and winner of the Library of Virginia Fiction Award, the Weatherford Award, the Balcones Fiction Prize, and the Lillian Smith Award, as well as a finalist for the Kirkus Fiction Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Leonard Award, the LA Times Debut Seidenbaum Prize, and long-listed for a Pen/Faulkner Fiction Award and the Story Prize. Johnson has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, Kweli Journal, Joyland, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. Her short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, guest edited by Roxane Gay and read live by LeVar Burton. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia. Read more from Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton:  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton) *** Episode editor: Kelly Araja Associate producer: Marina Leigh Producer: Mark Armstrong Ursa Short Fiction is supported by our listeners. Share this podcast with a friend—or become a Member to help fund production: https://ursastory.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton introduce their first story pick for Season Two, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson's “Virginia Is Not Your Home,” from her debut collection, My Monticello, published in 2021 by Henry Holt and Co. “Virginia Is Not Your Home” follows the life of a woman who is attempting to outrun her namesake, and the story conjures questions of origin, of becoming, and of freedom. There is emphasis on movement and escape, on our names as our homes, and on understanding what it is we leave behind when we go. It interrogates the ways we forget and the ways we remember. The story is performed by January LaVoy, and it's excerpted from the My Monticello audiobook, produced by our friends at Macmillan Audio. Our thanks to them for sharing this story with Ursa listeners. Listen, then come back next week for our conversation with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. Reading List: My Monticello (Jocelyn Nicole Johnson) My Monticello Audiobook (Audible) Jocelyn Nicole Johnson's website About the Author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is the author of My Monticello, a fiction debut that was called "a masterly feat" by the New York Times, and winner of the Library of Virginia Fiction Award, the Weatherford Award, the Balcones Fiction Prize, and the Lillian Smith Award, as well as a finalist for the Kirkus Fiction Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Leonard Award, the LA Times Debut Seidenbaum Prize, and long-listed for a Pen/Faulkner Fiction Award and the Story Prize. Johnson has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, Kweli Journal, Joyland, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. Her short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, guest edited by Roxane Gay and read live by LeVar Burton. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia. Read more from Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton:  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton) *** Episode editor: Kelly Araja Associate producer: Marina Leigh Episode producer: Mark Armstrong Audio story produced by Macmillan Audio and performed by January LaVoy. Ursa Short Fiction is supported by our listeners. Share this podcast with a friend—or become a Member to help fund production: https://ursastory.com/join/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join

Ursa Short Fiction Podcast Returns with the 20th Anniversary Celebration of ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Ursa Short Fiction, named by Apple Podcasts as one of its "Shows We Love" for 2022, is returning for Season Two on March 29, with a very special episode celebrating the 20th anniversary of DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE, the acclaimed short story collection by ZZ Packer that has inspired so many writers and kicked off a renaissance for short fiction.  Co-hosts Deesha Philyaw (THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES) and Dawnie Walton (THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV) go in-depth with Packer about the origin of her collection and the writers who inspired (and continue to inspire) her own work.  *** DEESHA: So many of our interviews and stories have led us to this very exciting moment. In all of the conversations we've had here on Ursa Short Fiction, there are a few books and a few writers who keep coming up over and over again as a source of inspiration. So many of us read these stories and it opened us up to what was possible with short fiction. DAWNIE: I know exactly what you mean, and I also know exactly who you're talking about. DEESHA: That's right. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, by ZZ Packer, first published in 2003. We are now here celebrating the 20th anniversary of this wonderful collection by talking to ZZ Packer. We're gonna learn about her journey as a writer and who inspired her work, which in turn, inspired so many of us. *** Ursa Short Fiction is returning with a star-studded list of writers — including Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Dantiel W. Moniz, Jonathan Escoffery, Sidik Fofana, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, and Denne Michele Norris, among many others — as well as both original audio stories and modern classics.  Follow Ursa Short Fiction on Instagram! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My Monticello is an ingenious and vividly written novella from debut author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. She brings all our fears and anxieties to the reading table and asks that we hold them and look at them from all angles. Such as in her story "Buying A House Ahead of the Apocalypse," where a mother makes a list of things she will need when she considers what will be lost during the end of the world. Jocelyn joins us on the show to discuss how the violent Unite the Right white supremacist rally inspired her titled story. We also chat about how her opening story Control Negro made it into the hands of Roxane Gay and read from the lips of the Lit King himself, Levar Burton.

A Civil War re-enactor pleads not guilty in Charlottesville to planting a pipe bomb at the Cedar Creek Battlefield in 2017… Throughout the Valley and the Piedmont, a plant called Autumn Olive is choking out native East Coast species… We have a conversation with our October Books & Brews featured author, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson….

“I want to tell stories. I hate the whole, don't tell, show mantra because it's not true—it has its like moments like, you know, when the reader finishes something of mine, I want them to feel as if it's something they had experienced, as if it's like a memory for them. Because like, for me, that's always been the best stuff. And like that can be so hard to do.” If you haven't yet read Morgan Talty's debut linked story collection Night of the Living Rez, you're in for an exceptional read; think There There by Tommy Orange or Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson or The Candy House by Jennifer Egan. Morgan—who quotes Jane Austen and Audre Lorde in the course of this conversation—joins us on the show to talk about story structure and inspiration, representation and colonialism (in all its forms), the importance of humor, what he's been reading and recommending, and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.   Featured Books (Episode) Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty A Calm and Normal Heart by Chelsea T. Hicks Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson The Last Catastrophe by Allegra Hyde The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters   Featured Books (TBR Topoff) The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

As part of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon [Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon], the podcast "les Rencontres" highlights the birth of a writer in a series imagined by CHANEL and House ambassador and spokesperson Charlotte Casiraghi. Listen to author and critic Erica Wagner in conversation with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, writer of “My Monticello”, her first novel published by Henry Holt and Co in 2021. Together, they evoke her early vocation for storytelling and discuss how her experience as an art teacher influenced her writing.

As part of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon [Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon], the podcast "les Rencontres" highlights the birth of a writer in a series imagined by CHANEL and House ambassador and spokesperson Charlotte Casiraghi. Listen to author and critic Erica Wagner in conversation with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, writer of “My Monticello”, her first novel published by Henry Holt and Co in 2021. Together, they evoke her early vocation for storytelling and discuss how her experience as an art teacher influenced her writing.© The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Used under license.© Kirkus Prize.© National Book Critics Circle, John Leonard Prize.© TIME. All rights reserved. Used under license.© The Pulitzer Prizes.© Colson Whitehead.© Guernica Magazine.© Guardian News & Media Limited.Toni Morrison, Beloved, © Vintage, Penguin, 2004.Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, Control Negro, © Guernica Magazine, 2017.Roxane Gay, Best American Short Stories 2018, © Mariner Books, 2018.WNED PBS, Buffalo, NY.Star Trek – Courtesy of CBS Studios.© 2022 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).© The Los Angeles Times.© The People's Court.© The Washington Post. All rights reserved. Used under license.

The multi award winning writer Jocelyn Nicole Johnson joins Robin to talk about her debut novella, My Monticello this week. They chat about the book, how important it was to capture the feeling of a real place, and the long shadow of the events of Charlottesville on her life, and the book. Extended edition for Patreons, of course, at patreon.com/bookshambles

This is part two of my interview with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, author of " My Monticello".  "My Monticello" was recently called "a masterly feat" by the New York Times. In Part One of this interview, we discuss how Jocelyn used real-life events to craft a beautiful and compelling collection of stories that examine race, climate change love, and the very nature of humanity itself.In Part 2 of this interview, we discuss Jocelyn's journey as a lifelong writer, her approach to working with agents and publishing houses and what it's like for her to hand over her story as it begins its journey of adaptation from page to screen as a new Netflix film.  Creatives, you're going to love this interview. So get out your notepad because you're going to want to take notes for this one!In this episode, we discuss:1. Embracing the process of adaptation -- handing your work over for interpretation2. Things lead to things: The power of patience when finding your audience3. Honing your creative voice -- how life experiences shape our creative voice.4. The feedback loop: How to use critical feedback effectively5. Finding inspiration after a literary success (Ie. What's up with Book 2?)6. Carving out time to do the workLinks:Tin HouseNew Dominion Book Shop Writer HouseJocelyn can be found atWebsiteInstagramTwitterLeave a voice message HERE!Follow us on Instagram!Schedule a chat with Bree @ The Lovely UnbecomingJoin the Pause to Go Discussion GroupThanks to our Sponsor! https://codebasecoworking.com/ Special thanks to WTJU 91.1 FM & The Virginia Audio Collective for the support and the space to record! Did you love this episode? Leave us a review !

In this first interview of the Creative Changemakers series, Bree Luck chats with Jocelyn Nicole Johnson about her debut book, 'My Monticello'. In this episode, we discuss how cultural events, like the violent Unite The Right events in Charlottesville, VA, and environmental events, like the fires in California, inspired the creation of this novel -- and the impact it has had on readers. Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is the author of My Monticello,  a fiction debut that was called "a masterly feat" by the New York Times and finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize. Johnson has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her writing appears in Guernica, The Guardian and elsewhere. Her short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories 2018, guest edited by Roxane Gay and read live by LeVar Burton for Selected Shorts. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia.This episode was sponsored by Codebase Coworking in Charlottesville, VA. Leave a voice message HERE!Follow us on Instagram!Schedule a chat with Bree @ The Lovely UnbecomingJoin the Pause to Go Discussion GroupThanks to our Sponsor! https://codebasecoworking.com/ Special thanks to WTJU 91.1 FM & The Virginia Audio Collective for the support and the space to record! Did you love this episode? Leave us a review !

Author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson joins Daniel Ford on the show to discuss her fiction collection My Monticello. To learn more about Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, visit her official website, like her Facebook page, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. My Monticello was featured in October 2021's "Books That Should Be On Your Radar." Today's episode is sponsored by Libro.fm (promo code WRITERSBONE), As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast, and Misfits Markets (promo code: WRITERSBONE).

Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is the author of the debut story collection My Monticello, available from Henry Holt & Co. Johnson's writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, Phoebe, Prime Number Magazine, and elsewhere. Her short story "Control Negro" was anthologized in Best American Short Stories 2018, guest edited by Roxane Gay, and read live by LeVar Burton as part of PRI's Selected Shorts series. Johnson has been a fellow at Hedgebrook, Tin House Summer Workshops, and VCCA. A veteran public school art teacher, she lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Launched in 2011. Books. Literature. Writing. Publishing. Authors. Screenwriters. Etc. Support the show on Patreon Merch www.otherppl.com @otherppl Instagram  YouTube Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJustice Critically-acclaimed debut author, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, spoke to me about becoming a late-stage "literary debutante," Walmart militias, and the #writinglife as an introvert. Jocelyn is a veteran public school art teacher, whose short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in Best American Short Stories 2018, guest-edited by New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay, and read live by LeVar Burton as part of PRI's Selected Shorts series. Her buzzy debut is 2021 Kirkus Prize Finalist, My Monticello, five stories and a novella all set in Virginia. It has been described as a "...precisely imagined [novel exploring] burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging....Set in the near future..." It was selected by National Book award winner Charles Yu as his most anticipated book of the year, hailed as a "masterly feat” by the NY Times, called "electrifying" by Colson Whitehead, and "absolutely unforgettable" by Roxane Gay. Netflix recently bought the title novella "My Monticello" for adaptation and Jocelyn's writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, Kweli, Joyland, among others, and she has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook and VCCA. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there's a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer's Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you're a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews In this file Jocelyn Nicole Johnson and I discussed: What inspired her quasi-dystopian fiction How she was discovered at a short story reading Why getting tweeted by Roxane Gay was a game-changer How to build a writing community as a wallflower And a lot more! Show Notes: JocelynJohnson.com My Monticello: Fiction By Jocelyn Nicole Johnson (Amazon) 'My Monticello' grapples with the past, present and future of American racism - NPR Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Facebook Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Instagram Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter

There's the saying "write what you know," and Gary Shteyngart did just that. His new novel, 'Our Country Friends' is about a group of eight friends who hole up in the country home of a Russian-born writer. He drew on his experience of his pandemic pod for the book. We'll also talk about his work as a consultant on the HBO series 'Succession,' and the botched circumcision that left him with debilitating pain. Maureen Corrigan reviews 'My Monticello' by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson.

There's the saying "write what you know," and Gary Shteyngart did just that. His new novel, 'Our Country Friends' is about a group of eight friends who hole up in the country home of a Russian-born writer. He drew on his experience of his pandemic pod for the book. We'll also talk about his work as a consultant on the HBO series 'Succession,' and the botched circumcision that left him with debilitating pain. Maureen Corrigan reviews 'My Monticello' by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson.

My Monticello By Jocelyn Nicole Johnson | Book Review Podcast Website: https://gobookmart.com Buy Now: https://amzn.to/2Z9aTID “The narrative is bold, harrowing and unfolds with urgency. Johnson's collection is . . . concerned with issues surrounding racial identity and the legacies of slavery and racism. Together they create an unnerving portrait of a country wrestling with its ugly past and present.” ―Time “My Monticello announces the arrival of an electric new literary voice in Johnson, an emerging master of the short story form.” ―Esquire “This collection of stories harmoniously weds the ugly with the beautiful, the terrifying and the brave, the disappointing and the hopeful, and makes for a brilliant debut.” ―Ms. “It should come as no surprise then that the book has received advance praise from literary superstars like Colson Whitehead, Roxane Gay, and Charles Yu. Johnson's fairly slim volume never feels slight in the least, as the stories contained within overflow with poise, maturity, and originality. The title story, “My Monticello,” may be the star of the show, but every single one of the six stories in Johnson's collection brings something brand-new to the table, showcasing the writer's indelible talent and reminding us that we're going to be reading her work for a long time to come.” ―Shondaland “History is the new dystopia. It's where our best writers are finding the language to talk about the legacy of colonization and immigration. My Monticello (Holt, $26.99, Oct. 5), Jocelyn Nicole Johnson's enthralling debut, only sounds thuddingly obvious: Its title novella tells the story of a group of Charlottesville residents (including ancestors of slaves) who hole up in Thomas Jefferson's home during a white-supremacist siege. What you actually get is a reminder of a time when a fiction writer could make their name on a single story alone.” ―Chicago Tribune --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gobookmart-review/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gobookmart-review/support

My Monticello, written by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, and narrated by Aja Naomi King, January LaVoy, Landon Woodson, LeVar Burton, Ngozi Anyanwu & Tomiwa Edun brings the listener five thought provoking short stories and a novella centered around Monticello, Charlottesville, and greater Virginia. Review & discussion with Scott Ullery, Lisa McCarty and Shachi Bhatt Thank you to the Libro.fm ALC Program and Macmillan Audio for providing advance review copies of My Monticello for today's episode. My Monticello [Libro.fm] Monticello Sundry Book Club: [Instagram] / [Newsletter] Other Referenced Works: Parable of the Sower [Libro.fm] Legendborn [Libro.fm]

Guest host LeVar Burton presents two of his favorite stories. In Lucia Berlin's “Friends,” the characters have different ideas about who benefits from their weekly lunches. The reader is Lydia Gaston. Next, Burton himself reads Jocelyn Nicole Johnson's powerful “Control Negro,” in which an academic and father tries a real-world experiment to prove a theory about racism.   Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out is for Abundant Life Ministries, “working hard to create a better future for the Charlottesville community.”*There are another 1,111 cases of COVID-19 reported this morning by the Virginia Department of Health and another 10 deaths. The seven-day average for positive tests has increased to 7.8 percent. There are another 35 cases in the Thomas Jefferson Health District with 26 of those listed as being from Charlottesville, seven from Albemarle and two from Louisa. Another Albemarle resident has died for a total of 57 in the district to date. The positive rate for the district has increased to 7.3 percent. Last night, the Charlottesville School Board was briefed on local conditions by Dr. Beth Baptist, the director of city schools. She has access to VDH health metrics that are not available to the public. She reported that the city of Charlottesville on August 31 had a much higher seven-day positive rate than surrounding counties.“For the overall health district we are at 7.1 percent,” Baptist said. “Charlottesville is 9.7 [percent]. When we get to ten, that’s when it becomes a red indicator and so we’re very close to that. Last week it was 3.6 [percent].” City schools open virtually on Tuesday, the same day that the University of Virginia will open to in-person instruction. This morning the University of Virginia COVID Tracker has recorded another 20 cases reported, all of them students. That brings the official total to 194 total cases, with 155 of them students. Students are expected to move into residence halls this week. Meanwhile, James Madison University students are moving out of dorms there as that school has opted to go virtual for at least the month of September. The image below is a screenshot taken this morning before the tracker was edited.* Governor Ralph Northam has asked the Virginia Supreme Court to extend the moratorium on evictions in the Commonwealth. A temporary halt on eviction notices expires at midnight on Labor Day. The Governor wrote Chief Justice Donald Lemons to point out that the General Assembly is still in session with a bill pending to address the issue, and new federal directives on a nationwide eviction moratorium is still being assessed. That action came this week in the form of a Centers for Disease Control directive. “While my administration works with our federal counterparts to understand the implementation of the CDC order, and while we continue to work with the General Assembly on protections that  will enable more landlords and tenants to utilize the rent relief funding, I write to seek additional time from this Court,” reads the letter. Northam specifically wants the moratorium to last through the end of September. (Northam’s letter)*The General Assembly remains in special session this week, and members of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission got a brief update last night. David Blount is the legislative liaison for the TJPDC. “They have a over $200 billion budget gap to fill for the rest of the fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022,” Blount said. “I think they’re going to cover that largely by using the money that was frozen from this past regular session and they went and reduced that to largely fill the gap.” Blount said he did not anticipate the state will tap into a reserve fund at this time. Both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate meet at noon. (General Assembly schedule)TJPDC Directors had the opportunity to update their counterparts from across the region. Albemarle Supervisor Donna Price relayed the news about the decision to remove Confederate markers in Court Square on September 12.“We expect that we will have several applications in [from] groups or organizations that are interested in receiving those items and we’ve been very pleased with the community engagement we’ve had in keeping our constituents informed of the process,” Price said. Price said the Albemarle Board plans to continue to keep meeting virtually as cold and flu season approaches and with no concrete plans for a vaccine. Fluvanna County is using its CARES money for economic development and expanding Internet coverage along Route 6 and U.S. Route 15. Supervisor Tony O’Brien said the county is also hopeful for more businesses to locate in the community, especially now that public water is coming to Fluvanna’s portion of Zion Crossroads. “We continue to see some positive growth on the economic development site,” O’Brien said. “We should have some announcements coming out in the near future but we’re getting a lot of momentum there and we’re sharpening up our economic development package.”Nelson County is also investing in broadband with a recent $1.25 million investment to expand access to the Internet, and another package is underdevelopment. “We’re looking at doing that again and trying to get to another 500 plus households within the next 12 months,” said Jesse Rutherford of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors. Dale Herring of the Greene County Board of Supervisors updated the TJPDC on the impasse over Greene’s proposed water supply plan. In July, the Rapidan Service Authority voted to stop collecting facility fees intended to pay for the impoundment of White Run for a new reservoir. The RSA consists of officials from Madison and Orange counties as well as Greene.“We voted to pull out,” Herring said. “They voted to not allow us to pull out. The resolution that the board has approved stated that if we were not allowed to pull out of the authority, we would seek legal action. At this point in time we are trying to determine what needs to be done. The bottom line is they have the authority to say there’s not enough water to approve our project, and they also have the ability to say they will not expand the water access.”Herring said the RSA has offered another solution but it not acceptable to the Board of Supervisors. The Greene County Board next meets Tuesday. *Tonight, Live Arts will hold the first in a series of Friday events the theater company plans to use to stay engaged with its patrons. Darryl Smith is the Box Office Manager at Live Arts.“This season, Live Arts is embracing First Fridays in our lovely community here,” Smith said. “Every first Friday of the Month, I will go out into the community of artists and performers and do a little of snippet, an interview about their art and the inspiration about their art.” Tonight, Smith will speak with writer Jocelyn Nicole Johnson who will read from some of her work, including a story in the form of a list called “Buying a House Ahead of the Apocalypse.”“I’m going to read a super, super short reading,” Johnson said. “I actually wrote this last summer before the pandemic and before quarantine. I was thinking about even last summer about how to plan for a future that seems particularly fragile or even tilting towards catastrophe.” Tonight’s interview is free to the public and will be streamed on Facebook Live, but you don’t need an account to access it. “This will be a way to give people a taste of what a Virtual Studio Visit will be like,” said Katie Rogers, marketing coordinator for Live Arts. The company is switching to a Season Pass model for programming that offers weekly content including radio plays and more. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out is for Abundant Life Ministries, “working hard to create a better future for the Charlottesville community.”*On Friday evening around 5 p.m., the University of Virginia announced they would proceed with plans to begin in-person instruction on September 8, two weeks later than originally planned. That also means that residence halls will open to students at two-thirds capacity, or about 4,400 people. “We know some will be delighted to hear this news and others will be disappointed,” reads a statement signed by officials including President Jim Ryan. “To be frank, it was a very difficult decision, made in the face of much uncertainty, and with full awareness that future events may force us to change course.”The statement goes on to explain the decision was made in part because local conditions in Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Health District have been improving. He also said “thousands of students” have been slowly returning to Charlottesville and UVA to work in labs, the medical and nursing schools, and professional students.“One thing we have learned from this virus is that you can do everything in your power to plan and prepare, but it still might not be enough, as things can change rapidly,” Ryan and others wrote. “That is why we will continue to monitor conditions closely and, if necessary, will put more restrictions in place, move classes online, and, if need be, send students home.”As of this morning, the official number of positive cases of UVA faculty, staff, and students is listed on the COVID-19 tracker as 115 since August 17, with 83 of those students. This morning, another three positive cases were reported, with two of those students.*The Virginia Department of Health has reported an additional 3,002 cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth since Friday morning, for a total of 120,494 to date. That includes 1,217 cases reported Saturday, 938 reported Sunday and 847 reported today. The positive test rate increased yesterday to 7.4 percent, up from 6.5 percent a week earlier.   In the Thomas Jefferson Health District, there have been another 103 cases of COVID-19 reported since Friday morning, with 52 reported Saturday, 34 reported Sunday, and 17 reported this morning. The positive rate jumped to 6.7 yesterday, up from 5.6 a week earlier. Today the figure decreased to 6.6 percent. *The latest report from the people putting together the University of Virginia’s COVID-19 forecasting model states that surges in health districts across the Commonwealth are abating. According to analysis by the UVA Biocomplexity Institute, only one health district, Mount Rogers in far southwest Virginia, is considered to be surging. The model currently suggests there could be around more 57,000 cases in Virginia by Thanksgiving, or 187,883. Adjustments were recently made to the model to anticipate the effects of seasonal change. (model report)“With the new modeling approach, the current course predicts that confirmed cases already peaked at 7,358 cases per week during the week ending August 9th,” reads the report. “Anticipated seasonal changes in the Fall due to schools and universities re-opening, changes to workplace attendance, and the impact of weather patterns could lead to a surge beginning around Labor Day.”The third page of the report talks about the effects schools re-opening could have on transmission in Virginia’s localities. *Albemarle County has announced the launch of another round of LIFT grants funded by the CARES Act. This time around, county officials are seeking applications from non-profit groups. Applications are not yet opened, but would-be applicants are asked to complete a form to be notified when the window opens. The Community Investment Collaborative will administer the funding. *A coffeeshop on Elliewood Avenue that has been closed since the pandemic began is reopening today. Grit sent an email to customers Saturday morning to notify of the change and to state that “safety protocols have been implemented” including a continued ban on indoor seating. Grit’s four other stories have been open to take-out and curbside pick-up but the store on the UVA Corner has been closed. *Two members of a group charged with overseeing urban design in Charlottesville have resigned, including chair Mike Stoneking. Stoneking and architect Fred Wolf have both sent letters to the city stating they now longer want to serve on the PLACE Design Task Force, which was created in 2012. Carrie Rainey, the city's urban design planner, sent a letter to remaining members telling them they could call for a special meeting to appoint new leadership. That meeting will happen on September 10 at the regular time. *Developer Katurah Roell has submitted new plans for a mixed-use building on Roosevelt Brown Boulevard in Charlottesville. A sign for the SoHo building has been standing on the half-acre property has been standing for several years. Staff in the city's Department of Neighborhood Development Services had approved a site plan for 6 residential units and over 40,000 square feet. The new plan would increase the residential units to 24 and would cut the commercial space to about 11,000 square feet. Both projects are allowed by-right under the zoning, which is a special district created for the Cherry Avenue corridor. In recent years, the city commissioned the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission to create a small area plan for the area to guide future development. City Council has not yet adopted the plan. *With no end in sight for physical distancing rules and bans on public gatherings, there are no scheduled curtain openings for live theater. However, Live Arts is shifting to an online model that begins with programming this week. Jeremy Duncan Pape is the interim creative director at Live Arts. “One of our primary focuses is obviously going to be on flexibility and adaptability because there is so much that we don’t know about the state of the word for the next year or so we have a lot of ideas,” Pape said. This year’s season will be driven by local content. Ann Hunter is the executive director at Live Arts. “When COVID hit, seems like a lifetime ago, Live Arts had a choice to either hunker down or to forge ahead and we chose the latter. That choice led to the creation of a reimagined forging ahead season,” Hunter said. She added that they are asking patrons to purchase a season pass to help subsidize the cost of programming for those with limited means. “The goal here is pretty simple, to lower the economic barrier to theater during a time of social, emotional and financial hardship for our neighbors,” Hunter said. Programming kicks off this weekend when box office manager Daryll Smith interviews writer Jocelyn Nicole Johnson as part of a First Friday event. You can get a preview in the Live Arts Season Reveal which is available on YouTube. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe