Claudia Johnson

Claudia Johnson is a nationally recognized advocate for free speech and social justice. In 1993 she was honored with the inaugural PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, presented by Paul Newman, for her “extraordinary efforts to restore banned literary classics to Florida classrooms”—and again in the 2022 “PEN America at 100” exhibition at the New York Historical Society. She continues to fight book banning, recently helping to reinstate banned books in Virginia Beach classrooms and libraries. She is the author of the memoir STIFLED LAUGHTER: ONE WOMAN'S STORY ABOUT FIGHTING CENSORSHIP, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1994, and now Fulcrum Publishing is releasing a new edition on March 14, 2023, because the book is even more relevant now and they want to introduce the book to a new generation of readers (view the trailer for the book at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009Q8g3LFK4 )

Her second memoir, HURTLING TOWARD HAPPINESS: A MOTHER AND TEENAGE SON'S ROAD TRIP FROM BLUES TO BONDING IN A REALLY SMALL CAR, was praised by the NEW YORK TIMES for its “quick pace and energetic dialogue that shows genuine warmth between mother and son.” Her screenwriting text, CRAFTING SHORT SCREENPLAYS THAT CONNECT—now in its 5th/20th Anniversary edition—introduced the narrative theory that human connection is as essential as conflict in the stories we tell. Her civil rights documentary, THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF RUBY McCOLLUM, was awarded the Gold Jury Prize at Seattle’s Social Justice Film Festival and Best Florida Documentary at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. She is a member of the founding faculty of the FSU Film School and also taught screenwriting at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. She has also co-written SCRIPT PARTNERS: HOW TO SUCCEED AT WRITING FOR SCREEN & TV, 2nd ed., and the novella A CHRISTMAS BELLE—a sequel to Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL—and numerous screenplays with her longtime writing partner, Matt Stevens.