“I just cut off my family because they are all insane and I don’t like them. No, you know what, I hate my family. Fuck families in general. I need a T-shirt that says I survived the nuclear family and all I got was post-traumatic stress disorder and then on the back it’ll say and this lousy T-shirt.”
—Chantal V. Johnson, Post-Traumatic
Hello Family,
Meet Chantal V. Johnson (she/her), a member of the inaugural Lit 16 class.
She is a tenant lawyer and writer. A graduate of Stanford Law School and a 2018 Center for Fiction Emerging Writers Fellow, she lives in New York.
Post-traumatic is her debut novel.
Here’s what Deesha Philyaw had to say about it:
“Stunning and riotous, Post-traumatic took me right under and then revived me, like only the best fiction can do. Johnson's delicious, meticulous prose delivers such intimacy and hilarity on the page, I laughed and cried all the way through. This is a raw, brilliant, and unforgettable debut. I love everything about it!”
Be sure to tune in to see Chantal, and three other members of the Lit 16, read and converse at the First Quarter Fire-Circle, courtesy of Loyalty Books:
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
7:30 p.m. ET
To register, please visit: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/lit16
We hope to see you there!
You can purchase copies of Post-traumatic at the Loyalty Books Lit 16 Reading site. Follow Chantal on Instagram.
In the spirit of community over competition, the Lit 16 is our way of using our platforms to shine a light on emerging writers whose art has impacted, inspired, and moved us in ways that we wanted to honor and share with you.
We could have easily created a Lit 64; there are so many fantastic recent works that we adore. Unfortunately, for many reasons, we are unable to accommodate that large of a scope. However, we do encourage all of our artistic peers to advance toward the directive set forth by the iconic and legendary Ancestor Toni Morrison: “If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
Be sure to follow the #Lit16 hashtag on social media and subscribe to Witness to stay up-to-date on upcoming Lit 16 events. Thank you so very much for joining us in celebration.
The Lit 16: Honoring sixteen emerging literary artists whose works are changing the game.
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert