Jessica Johns

Jessica Johns is a Cree writer from Canada, whose debut novel Bad Cree was published in 2023.

Johns is a member of the Sucker Creek First Nation in northern Alberta.^[1] She grew up on her traditional territory in Treaty 8. She lived in Adelaide, Australia from ages 14 to 16.^[2] Johns majored in English at Grant MacEwan University and has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.^[3]

While she was an MFA student, a creative writing teacher told John's class to never write about dreams. Johns wrote Bad Cree in part as a response to this, advice which Johns disagreed with due to the importance of dreams in Cree culture.^[4] It was expanded from her earlier short story of the same name, which won the Journey Prize in 2020.^[5]

Bad Cree was published in 2023 by HarperCollins Canada.^[6] The novel was a shortlisted finalist for the 2023 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.^[7] Bad Cree was selected for the 2024 edition of Canada Reads, where it was defended by Dallas Soonias.^[8][9]

Johns divides her time between Edmonton and Vancouver and has a cat named Alfredo.^[3]

• How Not to Spill. Rahila's Ghost Press. 2018. ISBN 9781775116776.
• Donaldson, Emily (ed.). "The Bull of Cromdale". Best Canadian Essays 2019. Biblioasis.
• Jones, Amy; Lau, Doretta; Mutonji, Téa, eds. (2020). "Bad Cree". The Journey Prize Stories 32: The Best of Canada's New Writers. McClelland & Stewart. pp. 67–78. ISBN 9780771050992.
• Forget, André, ed. (2022). "Good Bones". After Realism: 24 Stories for the 21st Century. Vehicule Press. ISBN 9781550655964.
• Bad Cree. Doubleday. 2023. ISBN 9780385548694.