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Peter Johnson

Providence College professor and poet Peter Johnson brings Rhode Island’s teen culture to life in his second young adult novel, Loserville. (His multi-award-winning debut, What Happened, was last year’s recipient of the distinguished Paterson Prize.) We talked with him about his work, Providence and the best praise he’s gotten yet.

—KRISTINA REARDON

The teens in Loserville (named for a reality television show the characters participate in) are from Providence, which is also featured in your first novel. What inspires you about the city?

I always tell students to write about what they know. Providence is a very cool city with wonderful backdrops. My favorite scene in Loserville is a fight scene that takes place at WaterFire.

Young adult bestsellers typically feature gossiping girls, vampires or sports. Loserville focuses on a teenager’s struggle to make sense of his best friend’s disappearance. Why did you choose this subject matter?

I always joke that if I wanted to make money, I’d write a young adult novel about a mean girl who falls in love with a vampire and gets saved by a boy on a dragon. (laughs) There’s nothing wrong with entertaining young adults, but it’s also worthwhile to make them think about their lives. Even though they might want to forget the existential crises they face, they’re smart enough to know they can’t. That’s why Catcher in the Rye continues to be a bestseller.

You’ve piloted the book to classrooms in the area. What has the student response been?

Kids enjoy the narrator’s voice. He is pretty much fed up with our culture, and many high school students relate to that. Rhode Island students enjoy the Water-Fire scene and the ones at Swan Point Cemetery and on Federal Hill.

Will you continue to set books in Rhode Island?

I’ve just finished one called The Amazing Adventures of Houdini Weenie. It takes place not far from Hope High School. It’s a comic novel and the first one I consciously wrote for young adults.

You’re an award-winning poet and a professor. Why delve into fiction—and young adult fiction at that? 

I had previously published a book of short stories for adults, so writing a novel wasn’t a big leap. In response to What Happened, one boy said, “Finally a book that doesn’t suck.” I can’t imagine a poet saying something that priceless about another poet’s work.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSE BURKE