The Johnson Yearbook was founded in 1994 by Ulrich Fries and Holger Helbig. It is the central publication point for research regarding Uwe Johnson and provides information on the author's work, activities, and life. While volumes 1–10 were published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, volumes 11–16 were published by V&R unipress. Since volume 17, the yearbook has been published by Wallstein Verlag. The articles of the first ten volumes are accessible online and can be downloaded free of charge.

In the summer of 2010 the duty of editing passed to the Uwe Johnson Association and the Uwe Johnson Professorship.