FINDING HOPE IN LOSS: ROCHELLE L. JOHNSON’S AWARD-WINNING ESSAY “PHANTOM PAINS”
An essay on loss written by a College of Idaho professor has won the Georgia Review Prose Prize. Rochelle L. Johnson received the honor for her essay “Phantom Pains,” in which she explores the emotional landscapes of both personal and planetary loss. The award is sponsored by The Georgia Review, the literary-cultural journal published out of the University of Georgia since 1947. Acclaimed writer Allegra Hyde judged the submissions. She praised Johnson’s essay for its emotional clarity and depth, saying, “Reading ‘Phantom Pains,’ I couldn’t stop highlighting lines.” Hyde said she was struck by the essay’s ability to offer “profound wisdom through frank and compassionate engagement with uncertainty, unknowingness, and grief.” Hyde said the essay effectively weaves Johnson’s experience of living as an amputee with her work as an environmental studies professor, offering a unique lens on both physical and ecological loss. “I finished the essay feeling both moved and inspired,” Hyde said, reflecting on Johnson’s willingness to share her vulnerability as a model for students and others who face challenges both personal and global. Johnson, who holds a Ph.D. in American literature and environmental history, says the essay emerged from her life as both a teacher and an amputee. “Over time,” she explains, “I realized that these seemingly disparate parts of who I am are actually quite similar: both involve moving through grief to hope.” In “Phantom Pains,” she shares how her own journey of navigating physical loss helped her better understand and support her students, many of whom struggle with the emotional weight of the environmental crises they study. “As an amputee, I also live in a landscape that has lost part of itself (my body),” Johnson writes, “but I learned that the grounds of my grief can be a source of hope and even joy.” She says this insight reshaped her teaching, allowing her to connect with students on a deeper level by openly acknowledging loss and modeling resilience. The essay not only documents a personal transformation but also offers a hopeful path forward for those navigating collective grief. After graduating from Bates College, Johnson earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in American literature and environmental history at Claremont Graduate University. She holds the Bernie McCain Chair in the Humanities at The College of Idaho. Her teaching covers natural history, museums, writing, and environmental studies. She also teaches for the Bread Loaf School of English and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Johnson received the Carnegie Foundation’s Idaho Professor of the Year award in 2010.