{
  "id": 14164533,
  "title": "Adam Johnson on the Many Ways To Tell a Single Story",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/adam-johnson-on-the-many-ways-to-tell-a-single-story",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-13T09:09:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Literary Hub",
    "slug": "literary-hub",
    "url": "https://lithub.com/adam-johnson-on-the-many-ways-to-tell-a-single-story/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, discussed the challenge of translating oral traditions into written narratives at The Center for Fiction. Amitav Ghosh, author of the Ibis Trilogy, moderated the conversation. Johnson explained that oral stories often come in fragments, with different perspectives and sequences. He noted that when writing about his own experiences, he initially wrote autobiographically, but eventually shifted to exploring more complex, fictional themes. Johnson recounted how he encountered defectors who shared their painful stories in disjointed ways, making it difficult for them to articulate their experiences without retraumatizing themselves. He observed that people often share stories in bits, reminiscent of a grandparent telling tales of their homeland during holidays. Johnson aimed to write about North Korea in a way that mirrored the fragmented nature of these stories, choosing to fragment the narrative, change points of view, and leave it to the reader to piece together the story. This approach, while making the book less accessible to some, felt true to the material and the experiences of the people he interviewed.",
  "summary": "The Center For Fiction welcomed Pulitzer Prize-winning author Adam Johnson (The Orphan Master’s Son) to The Center for Fiction this fall to celebrate the release of his new novel, The Wayfinder. This must-read novel urges us to consider how struggles",
  "key_points": [
    "Oral traditions often come in fragments with different perspectives.",
    "Johnson shifted from autobiographical to more complex, fictional themes."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}