AKEMI JOHNSON
Journalist + Creative Writer
located near: Sacramento, CA
EXPERTISE
Mixed-race identity
Okinawa
US military bases abroad
WWII Japanese American incarceration
Creative nonfiction writing
The Role of Military Bases in Local Economies
American military empire
EVENT TYPES
KEYNOTES
LECTURES
Academic Conferences
Educational Seminars and Workshops
FIRESIDE CHATS
PANELS
BOOK TALKS & READINGS
VIRTUAL EVENTS
MODERATION
INTERVIEWS
Akemi Johnson’s bio
Akemi Johnson is the author of Night in the American Village: Women in the Shadow of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa, which was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called “a searing and stylish debut…. A must-read look at the impact of the U.S.’s overseas military presence.”
She is currently at work on a second book, to be published by One Signal, about the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans and Tule Lake concentration camp, where her grandfather renounced his U.S. citizenship, along with more than 5,000 others.
A former Fulbright scholar in Okinawa, Akemi has written about the island, along with issues of race, identity, history, and culture, for The Nation, NPR’s Code Switch, Travel + Leisure, Explore Parts Unknown, and other publications. She has also contributed to NPR’s All Things Considered and been invited to speak about mixed-race identity and the craft of writing at UC Berkeley and other universities.
Akemi earned an MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and an AB in East Asian Studies from Brown University. She has taught writing at the George Washington University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the University of Iowa. She works at the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, which educates to advance racial equity, social justice, and human rights for all by promoting the importance of remembering one of the most blatant forms of racial profiling in U.S. history: the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Get Social With Akemi Johnson
Website |Twitter | Instagram | Visit Akemi at APL!
books by Akemi Johnson
Akemi Johnson in the media
Articles Featuring Akemi Johnson
'Night in the American Village’: The women of Okinawa and their connection to U.S. military bases | Matter of Fact
Who Gets To Be 'Hapa'? | Code Switch
How a Single Violent Crime Tells the Story of U.S.-Japan Relations in Okinawa | Literary Hub
'Night in the American Village': Touching base with the women of Okinawa | The Japan Times
Gender, Race, And A Militarized Okinawa | LobeLog
Podcasts with Akemi Johnson