Luke Johnson

Luke Johnson was born and raised in Young, NSW. His short stories have been published in numerous Australian journals and listed for such awards as the Josephine Ulrick Prize, the Elizabeth Jolley Prize, the AAWP Chapter One Prize, the Albury City Short Story Prize, the Katharine Susannah Prichard Speculative Fiction Award, and two Varuna PIP Fellowships. He is a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Wollongong.

Author's books

Ferocious Animals

$24.95

An early exchange of Christmas presents leads to a violent outcome for a young drunk couple. A schoolboy finds himself at the centre of a cruel playground bullying ritual. A teenage girl lies to her mother about a sexual assault involving her little sister. A father ruins grand final day for the son who idolises him. 

The thirteen stories in Luke Johnson’s debut collection do not shy away from life’s brutalities. Nor do they overlook those moments of genuine  intimacy, humour and revelation that imbue the tragic with purpose and with pathos. Set in regional Australia in an era before mobile phones and the internet, these stories will remind you of who and what we are beneath all the cool digital interfaces: animals, burning with ferocity for a mouthful of life’s flesh.