John Mitchell Johnson
Official Website
Now available at the Appalachian Artisan Center, Hindman, KY, as well as most online outlets.
John Mitchell Johnson
Kudzu opens on a sultry July afternoon in 1987, as thirty-eight-year-old Lewis Ray Jacobs is driving from his home in Nashville to his native Stone Coal in Eastern Kentucky, to attend a funeral. He reflects on a similar hot summer day in 1962 when he and his best friend, Travis Wicker, sneak into the wake of a recently departed neighbor, and twelve-year-old Lewis Ray, on a dare, reaches into the coffin to take hold of the corpse’s hand. Things don’t go as planned.
Thus begins our introduction to two friends whose stories are humorous, engaging, and poignant. We follow them through the ordeals of adolescence and the realities of adulthood—through pubescent pranks, emerging sexuality, and complicated relationships; through a life-changing accident; and now, nearly two decades after Lewis Ray has left Stone Coal, a funeral.
Where I'm From is an entertaining collection of stories written by Kentucky author John Mitchell Johnson. From the whimsical "Lowly Soup Bean" to the poignant "Blue Christmas" to the endearing "Me and Dirty Earl" and the moving and personal "That Day in November," such tales can only be crafted by one who is deeply connected to where they're from.
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BIO
John Mitchell Johnson’s characters are as complex and colorful as the eastern Kentucky Appalachian Mountains where he was raised. His debut novel, Kudzu, was published in 2018 and selected for inclusion in the 2018 Kentucky Book Festival. Johnson also published a collection of short stories, Where I’m From, in 2021. His stories have twice won awards at Lexington's Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, and in 2017 Johnson was selected as winner of the center’s Next Great Writers Competition. His short stories have appeared eight times in Silver Threads, a literary collaborative of the Carnegie Center and the Lexington Senior Center. Recently Johnson’s short story “84 × 28 × 20,” a foray into the macabre, was published by Dark Harbor Magazine; and “All In,” an Appalachian tale told through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old who has a unique perspective of his dysfunctional, yet endearing, family, appeared in Story Sanctum. Johnson is currently working on a play adaptation of “All In.” His memoir piece, “Sweet Sorghum,” appeared in the October 2025 issue of Kentucky Monthly.
Johnson is retired and lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with his wife, Lisa. When not writing he enjoys spending time with his family, especially his granddaughter, Ruby Jane.
CONTACT
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