Cover of The Austin Chronicle!
Here’s the cover story from The Austin Chronicle marking the publication of Encounters with Unexpected Animals: Stories! Caroline Drew did an amazing job on the profile, complete with quotes from Tony Hawk!
Téa Obreht and Electric Lit!
Téa Obreht recommends “Paradeability” in Electric Literature! In her introduction to EL’s reprint of the first story in Encounters with Unexpected Animals: Stories, Obreht writes: “Johnston works a subtle magic in the characters’ tension and tentativeness with each other…Among the fascinating denizens Johnston spangles across the page, the pressure of the unsaid finally breaks down, shattering—as the best stories do—our illusions.”
Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026!
Lit Hub has named Encounters with Unexpected Animals: Stories as one of its Most Anticipated Books of the Year! Full list available here!
The Best American Short Stories 2025!
Celeste Ng and Nicole Lamy have selected “Time of the Preacher” for The Best American Short Stories 2025! In her generous summary of the story, Ng writes that it “captures something about the COVID-19 pandemic better than anything else I’ve seen: the deep desire to protect the ones we love from harm while realizing, in our hearts, that this is impossible.”
Pushcart Prize!
“Time of the Preacher” has been awarded a Pushcart Prize! The story was originally published in Virginia Quarterly Review and will appear in the upcoming collection Encounters with Unexpected Animals: Stories!