Leah Johnson Welcomed as 2024 Between the Pages Author

The Middle School and Upper School welcomed Leah Johnson as the 2024 Between the Pages author. On Sept. 27, during two sessions at The Schiff Center, Johnson discussed her journey to becoming an author and the importance of being able to read about characters who are like you. 

After a brief introduction at the beginning of each session, Johnson stepped onto the stage amidst enthusiastic applause from students and faculty alike. 

“We’re going to start by playing a game. How many of you all have had to read Shakespeare by this point in your educational career? How well do you know Shakespeare?” Johnson asked.

The game Johnson created was simple: a couple of students were called onto the stage and shown a quote that they had to guess was written by Shakespeare or a contemporary musical artist like Beyonce, Sabrina Carpenter, or BTS. Over the course of several rounds, students challenged their preconceived notions of what “classical” literature could sound like.

“I pulled Shakespeare because for a long, long time, and even now, there’s this thing called a canon. The canon is full of people who you are told you have to read in order to understand great literature, scholarship, or excellence. That canon has often excluded people who look and live the way that I look and live,” Johnson said. 

As a queer black woman, Johnson said that because there were so few stories that highlighted similar experiences to her’s growing up, she didn’t believe it was possible to write stories for a living. 

“I’m here to tell you that a good story is a good story. It doesn’t matter where you come from, who in your family has had access to stories before, who in your lineage has written and cataloged their narratives. You have the ability to tell stories that are worthy of time and attention and study by virtue of the fact that you are a human with something to say,” Johnson said.

After each session, Johnson answered students’ questions, signed books, and encouraged them to continue writing about what inspires them.

Johnson’s bestselling debut novel, “You Should See me in a Crown,” was named one of the 100 best young adult books of all time by Time in 2021. When she’s not writing, you can find her at her Indianapolis-based independent bookseller, Loudmouth Books, which specializes in highlighting marginalized authors and uplifting banned or challenged books.