Yma Johnson

Yma Johnson is a first generation Sierra Leonean immigrant who began her writing career in 1996 as a journalist in Puerto Rico. She has written articles on topics ranging from the criminalization of the mentally ill to Japanese swordsmanship. She is a master’s candidate in creative writing at Eastern Michigan University where she recently taught rhetoric and composition. She also taught poetry at a women’s prison. She won first place in the 2012 Current Magazine Fiction and Poetry Contest as well as an honorable mention from 2014 Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Contest. Her work has appeared in the St. Petersburg Review. She also has a story forthcoming in the Encyclopedia Project, an anthology of experimental literature. Yma currently serves as grants director for a nonprofit agency dedicated to protecting the environment.