Richie Austen Johnson Q & A with Eastern Iowa Review
Chila: Your two diary-esque essays are unique and disarmingly charming to read, if I can say it that way. Tell us how you came up with the material.
Richie: Thanks, Chila! So, over this past summer I had a couple of independent studies I was working on to finish up my degree, and one of them was focused on Thoreau. My amazing professor, Kristen Case, started me off by bringing me along to a talk she gave on him at the Merryspring Nature Center where she began with a slide of the first words in his journal: “‘What are you doing now?’ he asked, ‘Do you keep a journal?’ – So I make my first entry today.” And with that my study just took its shape, where I’d read and write my thoughts and feel a little bit like Thoreau. It was a weird dynamic that way. And Kristen, all the while, would guide me and respond to my nonsense, and, most importantly, reassure and reassure and reassure me. Nothing has been more important to my writing as her reassurance. Once that was over, I realized I had had a summer with Henry and that was neat, and I didn’t want the writing to end, so I just kept going, which is probably the biggest lesson I learned from him, the importance and worth in recording thoughts.
Chila: Excellent observations, Richie, and kudos to Kristen for being such a positive influence in your life. Talk a little about stream-of-consciousness writing and whether or not you would classify these [your essays] as such.
Richie: I was just talking to someone about this. I’m not sure. I feel like there are rules to this sort of thing, and I don’t know if these meet all of the criteria. But, really, yes, I think they at least act as stream-of-consciousness writings. The idea, for me, is to just sort of spew. That’s what I like. Rambling through my fingertips. I really really appreciate pen and pad, better, and sometime I get on that kick, but mostly I’m lazy. So I just hammer away on the keyboard, and that’s kind of neat, too, letting your fingers fly. It’s a really fast paced experience, which is why I think I like it. I don’t edit them at all, save to maybe disguise something a little bit. It’s instant satisfaction that way. Some of what I write will be stuff I had conjured earlier, but when and where in the writing it comes out is the thing, and so it’s still stream-of-consciousness in that way, I think.
Chila: I sometimes write that way too, and it's very fulfilling, really. Which 3 or 4 authors do you regularly read for inspiration?
Richie: Jack Kerouac, Steinbeck. Thoreau. I love them. I read a lot of my friends' stuff, too. Farmington seems to attract some really neat people and writers. It’s a comfortable town. UMF [University of Maine at Farmington] is a really great school and Farmington is a really great place. Nathaniel Duggan, Kim Arthurs, Audrey Gidman. They have all played roles in the local literary journal, too, the Sandy River Review. I just saw one of your pieces in the latest issue, actually! Congratulations! It’s neat that we’ve crossed paths that way.
Chila: It is! I was honored to have that essay accepted, and I saw your name there too but need to go back and actually read it. Will do that after the busyness of the holidays, I promise. So, where do you want to be by this time next year with your writing? Which journal(s) do you want to have "conquered"? Book project begun or finished?
Richie: You know, I’ve just begun submitting my writings recently. I had in the past for a moment and never had anything accepted, but this time around I’m two for two, which has proven really reassuring in some way. Over this past summer I spent a lot of time with my two independent studies thinking about what it means to share work like that, and I realized I was sort of stuck between being incredibly self-conscious and desperate for some kind of approval, or something. One of my professors saw this and we talked about it and he made it part of my assignment, kind of, to share. My girlfriend and Farmington friends became really good for that. And it’s all proved really encouraging and I feel motivated to submit a bit more here and there, if only to rekindle my spirits. Writing’s good for me and that’s good enough, when I remember it.
Chila: How did you hear about the Eastern Iowa Review?
Richie: Through Newpages. They have those classifieds with “call for submissions” which I started to browse. Eastern Iowa Review had an ad that stuck out to me because of its interest in lyrical/experimental essays. I like that sort of thing. And the submission guidelines were good and challenging to me. I’m very happy to be a piece of the second issue and am looking forward to reading all of the others!
Chila: We're thrilled to have you!
Chila: Your two diary-esque essays are unique and disarmingly charming to read, if I can say it that way. Tell us how you came up with the material.
Richie: Thanks, Chila! So, over this past summer I had a couple of independent studies I was working on to finish up my degree, and one of them was focused on Thoreau. My amazing professor, Kristen Case, started me off by bringing me along to a talk she gave on him at the Merryspring Nature Center where she began with a slide of the first words in his journal: “‘What are you doing now?’ he asked, ‘Do you keep a journal?’ – So I make my first entry today.” And with that my study just took its shape, where I’d read and write my thoughts and feel a little bit like Thoreau. It was a weird dynamic that way. And Kristen, all the while, would guide me and respond to my nonsense, and, most importantly, reassure and reassure and reassure me. Nothing has been more important to my writing as her reassurance. Once that was over, I realized I had had a summer with Henry and that was neat, and I didn’t want the writing to end, so I just kept going, which is probably the biggest lesson I learned from him, the importance and worth in recording thoughts.
Chila: Excellent observations, Richie, and kudos to Kristen for being such a positive influence in your life. Talk a little about stream-of-consciousness writing and whether or not you would classify these [your essays] as such.
Richie: I was just talking to someone about this. I’m not sure. I feel like there are rules to this sort of thing, and I don’t know if these meet all of the criteria. But, really, yes, I think they at least act as stream-of-consciousness writings. The idea, for me, is to just sort of spew. That’s what I like. Rambling through my fingertips. I really really appreciate pen and pad, better, and sometime I get on that kick, but mostly I’m lazy. So I just hammer away on the keyboard, and that’s kind of neat, too, letting your fingers fly. It’s a really fast paced experience, which is why I think I like it. I don’t edit them at all, save to maybe disguise something a little bit. It’s instant satisfaction that way. Some of what I write will be stuff I had conjured earlier, but when and where in the writing it comes out is the thing, and so it’s still stream-of-consciousness in that way, I think.
Chila: I sometimes write that way too, and it's very fulfilling, really. Which 3 or 4 authors do you regularly read for inspiration?
Richie: Jack Kerouac, Steinbeck. Thoreau. I love them. I read a lot of my friends' stuff, too. Farmington seems to attract some really neat people and writers. It’s a comfortable town. UMF [University of Maine at Farmington] is a really great school and Farmington is a really great place. Nathaniel Duggan, Kim Arthurs, Audrey Gidman. They have all played roles in the local literary journal, too, the Sandy River Review. I just saw one of your pieces in the latest issue, actually! Congratulations! It’s neat that we’ve crossed paths that way.
Chila: It is! I was honored to have that essay accepted, and I saw your name there too but need to go back and actually read it. Will do that after the busyness of the holidays, I promise. So, where do you want to be by this time next year with your writing? Which journal(s) do you want to have "conquered"? Book project begun or finished?
Richie: You know, I’ve just begun submitting my writings recently. I had in the past for a moment and never had anything accepted, but this time around I’m two for two, which has proven really reassuring in some way. Over this past summer I spent a lot of time with my two independent studies thinking about what it means to share work like that, and I realized I was sort of stuck between being incredibly self-conscious and desperate for some kind of approval, or something. One of my professors saw this and we talked about it and he made it part of my assignment, kind of, to share. My girlfriend and Farmington friends became really good for that. And it’s all proved really encouraging and I feel motivated to submit a bit more here and there, if only to rekindle my spirits. Writing’s good for me and that’s good enough, when I remember it.
Chila: How did you hear about the Eastern Iowa Review?
Richie: Through Newpages. They have those classifieds with “call for submissions” which I started to browse. Eastern Iowa Review had an ad that stuck out to me because of its interest in lyrical/experimental essays. I like that sort of thing. And the submission guidelines were good and challenging to me. I’m very happy to be a piece of the second issue and am looking forward to reading all of the others!
Chila: We're thrilled to have you!
We are so thrilled to have yet another emerging writer represented in the Eastern Iowa Review. Our fondest wishes to Richie; we hope he keeps us informed about his progress in the years ahead, for by doing so he'll remind us yet again why we do this thing. - Chila
Richie Johnson is wild, brave and free. (That’s what I used to say.) Now: Richie is kind, moving and mostly quiet. After a handful of years, where he was first in school, then out of school, and lastly in school once more, he graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington having taken a bunch of Education and English courses, but never having student teacher taught, and so he’s not really sure what his degree is. After discovering love for his Maine home state, he moves to Vermont (after Christmas).
Richie Johnson is wild, brave and free. (That’s what I used to say.) Now: Richie is kind, moving and mostly quiet. After a handful of years, where he was first in school, then out of school, and lastly in school once more, he graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington having taken a bunch of Education and English courses, but never having student teacher taught, and so he’s not really sure what his degree is. After discovering love for his Maine home state, he moves to Vermont (after Christmas).
