Podcast Summary: T. R. Johnson, "New Orleans: A Writer's City"

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Mark Clovis
Guest: T.R. Johnson
Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Mark Clovis interviews T.R. Johnson, English professor at Tulane University and author of New Orleans: A Writer’s City (Cambridge UP, 2023). Johnson shares his insights into the literary, musical, and cultural fabric of New Orleans through the unique lens of its streets. The conversation explores how geography, history, and the city's vibrant communities have shaped its writing and broader cultural output, making New Orleans both a literal and metaphorical writer’s city.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

T.R. Johnson's Background and Origins of the Book

• Johnson has lived in New Orleans for nearly 25 years, teaching at Tulane and working as a jazz DJ at WWOZ ([00:32]).
• Inspired by teaching a post-Katrina course on New Orleans literature, Johnson developed a deep engagement with the city’s literary life, culminating in a new volume for Cambridge aimed at general readers ([00:32]–[02:05]).
• Quote:

  “I really wanted this to be a book for everybody... I kind of kept the theory sort of baked into the foundation rather than wearing it on the sleeve and getting in the way.” — T.R. Johnson ([02:32])

The Book’s Structure: A Literary Ramble through New Orleans

• Johnson’s approach is to structure chapters around five major streets — Royal, St. Claude, Esplanade, Basin Street, St. Charles — each serving as both geographic and thematic arteries of the city ([03:46], [05:41]).
• The book blends the guidebook format with extended literary and cultural essays, designed both for walking the city and for minds wandering its history ([04:41]).

Exploring Royal Street: The Literary Genesis

• Royal Street is described as the birthplace of New Orleans' literary culture, steeped in Creole legacy, bohemia, and an array of renowned writers “[The first really serious rumbles of what would become this astounding literary legacy really begin along that Royal Street corridor.]” ([05:53]).
• From the influences of the Haitian diaspora to the residencies of legends like Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Charles Bukowski ([05:53]–[09:30]).
• Quote:

  “Royal was the natural place to start. That’s kind of ground zero for the literary mystique, the aura, the astounding legacy and reputation of the city.” — T.R. Johnson ([08:30])

St. Claude Avenue: Shifting Bohemias and Community Resilience

• St. Claude is characterized as the inheritor of Royal Street’s bohemian legacy, transformed into a vibrant, diverse, and resilient literary community ([11:25]).
• The neighborhood’s history includes waves of Eastern European immigrants, African American cultural giants like Kalamu ya Salaam and Marcus B. Christian, origins of works like A Streetcar Named Desire, and the birthplace of Fats Domino ([11:25]–[16:16]).
• St. Claude's literary output is intertwined with broader cultural, musical, and social activism, continuing to attract writers and artists to this day.

Esplanade Avenue: Intersections of Jazz, Memory, and Literature

• Esplanade's history is deeply intertwined with New Orleans’ musical legends (Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Alan Toussaint, Louis Armstrong) and literary figures (Kate Chopin) ([17:12]).
• Johnson incorporates music as literature, discussing how songwriters’ memoirs and lyrics contribute to the city’s narrative.
• The corridor is also home to crucial moments in Black history — slave markets, sites pivotal to the civil rights era — and the mystical culture of voodoo ([17:12]–[20:15]).
• Quote:

  “A lot of these musicians wrote extraordinary memoirs... As songwriters, they’re working with the written word. Some of them made their place in history as vocalists... I call them literature and want to bring them into the mix.” — T.R. Johnson ([17:32])

Basin Street: Memory, Trauma, and Survival

• Basin Street’s works coalesce around the theme of memory, especially as it relates to African American experience, trauma, survival, and music as a tool of collective remembrance ([21:07]).
• Discussion of Sidney Bechet’s autobiography, Brenda Marie Osby’s poetry, and Albert Woodfox’s memoir Solitary, the latter being particularly powerful as a meditation on memory and survival ([21:07]–[25:30]).
• The Toni Morrison manuscript, “New Orleans: The Storyville Musical”, discovered partially fire-damaged, becomes a metaphor for the endurance of memory and culture ([25:30]–[26:04]).
• Quote:

  “He said, my purpose in keeping my head together was to honor my ancestors. He said, I did it for them.” — T.R. Johnson on Albert Woodfox ([23:22])

St. Charles Avenue and the Garden District: Contemporary Literary Icons

• Shifting focus to more popular and contemporary figures, Johnson discusses Anne Rice’s immense global impact, her roots in the Irish Channel and Garden District, and how her work redefined the world’s imagination of New Orleans ([27:49]).
• Discussion also includes John Kennedy Toole and other recognizable figures, underscoring New Orleans' continuing presence in literary pop culture ([27:49]–[30:45]).
• Quote:

  “There is probably no single figure who has done more to shape the global... imagination of the world of this city more than Anne Rice.” — T.R. Johnson ([28:09])

The Outskirts and the Swamp: New Orleans’ Expanding Cultural Reach

• Johnson explores how the image of New Orleans extends into the surrounding swamps, highlighting works by H. P. Lovecraft, Alan Moore (Swamp Thing), and the historical realities and legends beyond the city itself ([31:36]).
• Johnson emphasizes the swamps as sites of resistance, imagination, and a necessary consideration for the city’s future, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina ([31:36]–[34:29]).
• Quote:

  “To really understand the city, you need to think about the way it's surrounded by swamps, with all that that implies in terms of... a place where the enslaved can dream of running away to freedom.” — T.R. Johnson ([32:24])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On accessible scholarship:

  “I really wanted this to be a book for everybody. And so... I kind of kept the theory sort of baked into the foundation rather than wearing it on the sleeve and getting in the way.” — T.R. Johnson ([02:32])

• On Royal Street’s literary density:

  “The layers of literary history on that dozen blocks of Royal... it's just unfathomable, and it runs really for a little over a century.” — T.R. Johnson ([09:44])

• On bringing music into literary history:

  “A lot of these musicians wrote extraordinary memoirs... I call them literature and want to bring them into the mix.” ([17:32])

• On memory as survival:

  “He said, my purpose in keeping my head together was to honor my ancestors. He said, I did it for them.” — T.R. Johnson, quoting Albert Woodfox ([23:22])

• On the mystery of Toni Morrison’s fire-scarred manuscript:

  “That manuscript has come through fire and survived, as has the population of that neighborhood. It's a metaphor for the history that that cultural center is all about...” ([26:04])

• On the centrality of Anne Rice:

  “I can’t think of anybody who has done more to shape how the world sees this place than she did.” ([28:09])

• On the swamps defining New Orleans:

  “To really understand the city, you need to think about the way it's surrounded by swamps, with all that that implies in terms of... a place where the enslaved can dream of running away to freedom...” ([32:24])

Suggested Starting Points for New Readers

• History:
  City of a Million Dreams by Jason Berry ([35:04])
• Film:
  Down by Law (1980s) — Johnson calls it “a magical, visionary masterpiece about the city” ([35:33]).
• Music:
  Listen to WWOZ, New Orleans’ jazz and heritage radio station ([35:58]).

Quote:

“Watch Down by Law. Read Jason Barry. Go listen to WWOZ... That would be the way to kind of get yourself ready to read my book and then to get yourself a ticket and come on into town.” — T.R. Johnson ([36:16])

T.R. Johnson’s Future Projects

• Writing a teacher’s guide for African American poetry of New Orleans, focusing on Brenda Marie Osby ([36:38]).
• Writing poetry and returning to music, with a humorous personal goal:

  “My goal is to be the laziest man in Louisiana.” ([37:08])

Conclusion

T.R. Johnson provides an accessible, deeply informed, and atmospheric exploration of New Orleans that spans centuries and genres, from landmarks and neighborhoods to iconic artists, writers, and cultural moments. The city itself emerges as a living, breathing protagonist—one best understood not through definitions, but by walking its streets, listening to its music, and reading its stories.