CALEB JOHNSON
in conversation with Lanie Edelson
Caleb Johnson, a writer from Alabama, shares his journey into creative writing and how his life and family have influenced his works. Johnson has published one novel, Treeborne, and currently has a new novel in the works. He has also written and published works of nonfiction and poetry. Johnson is also an assistant Creative Writing professor at App State, having returned after being a Visiting Assistant Professor from 2018 to 2022.
This interview took place over email.
LE: How did you come to study creative writing? What has your journey as a writer looked like?
CJ: I studied journalism as an undergraduate at The University of Alabama and worked in newspapers after graduating. I found myself writing short stories at night, looking more and more forward to those hours when I was alone at my kitchen table rather than my days in the newsroom. Eventually, I wanted structure and to learn more than I could teach myself by reading and writing alone, so I applied to MFA in creative writing programs and ended up at the University of Wyoming. Best decision of my life.
LE: How does your bachelor's degree in journalism inform your work?
CJ: Journalism taught me how to meet deadlines, how to not be so hard on early drafts, how to sit down and get the work done. Things that are especially valuable to me when the fiction writing isn't going so well. I feel like I can write my way through rough patches, trust the process to get me to a complete piece.
LE: Where did the idea for your novel Treeborne come from?
CJ: Probably it came from all the years I spent growing up in rural Alabama, listening to my family and paying attention to the natural world. More specifically, I got interested in the peach-growing business and the fruit's origins in Alabama via Hernando de Soto and Spanish colonization. That sounds more high-minded than it was, in fact. I had an image in my head of a young girl and her grandmother standing in a peach orchard. I wrote from there to discover what they were doing, who they were.
LE: Are there any books/works of writing, or specific writers that inspire you and your work?
CJ: Too many to name, but some include: Brad Watson, Edward P. Jones, Toni Morrison, Carson McCullers, Gustave Flaubert, Wright Morris, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alyson Hagy, Isaac Babel, Joy Williams.
LE: I know you have two young kids; how do your children affect you as a writer? Do they inspire any of your work?
CJ: Well, time is certainly at a premium these days; time to sit down and write at least. I try to stay easy on myself, patient. Of course, having kids totally changed me as a writer in terms of what ends up on the page. I see and consider and experience the world in ways I never did before becoming a father.
LE: What is your favorite type of writing to do? I know you have a novel published, as well as many nonfiction pieces, and poetry.
CJ: I feel most suited for writing novels. The form and the pace required of me to write one just make sense to me. I like that the novel is more forgiving than the short story, and I like feeling immersed in the world I'm creating in my head.
LE: You taught at App State a few years ago and came back this year. What made you decide to come back?
CJ: My colleagues, the students, the place itself. There's something about the mountains and the folks who choose to live here that brings me peace and helps me remain in a state of mind that aids my work—and the ways I want to live my life. It's exactly the kind of place I'd want to raise my kids, which is why we are here.
LE: How do you balance writing with teaching (and all that comes with teaching)?
CJ: I wake early and refuse to do anything during those hours other than write. Being regular about the work is the only way I've found to get books done.
LE: Can you divulge any details about your upcoming works?
CJ: I've got a novel on submission right now that's based on the life of my paternal grandmother. It's a sort of Southern pastoral set largely on a small cattle farm over the course of the 20th century in Alabama.