Biography
A native of Evanston, Illinois, Charles Johnson got his start as a political cartoonist, producing two cartoon collections, Black Humor (1970) and Half-Past Nation-Time (1972). He created and hosted the nationally syndicated PBS television show Charlie’s Pad, a series about the craft of cartooning that aired from 1970 to 1980.
Johnson is the author of numerous acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction. His short-story collection The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was nominated for the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Middle Passage, his 1990 novel, won the National Book Award. Johnson was one of a group of 12 Black authors (including Maya Angelou and Rita Dove) commemorated on a series of stamps created by the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation and issued in Ghana and Uganda in 1997.
Johnson was awarded a MacArthur fellowship in 1998. In 2002, he received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature. He is professor emeritus at the University of Washington, where he began teaching in 1976.
Finding Aids
- Charles Johnson PapersThe Charles Johnson Papers hold both published and unpublished work from the author spanning nearly six decades. The collection brings together manuscripts, drafts, correspondence, artwork, and ephemera and serves as a testament to Johnson’s wide-ranging career as a public intellectual.
- Charles Johnson Original Artwork CollectionThis collection contains 18 original illustrations by Charles Johnson. They came from the Charles Johnson Papers and are housed with the Dowd Illustration Research Archive at West Campus.
Blog Posts
- Washington University Libraries Acquire the Charles Johnson PapersAnnouncement of the acquisition of the Charles Johnson Papers
- Preview of the Charles Johnson PapersIn July 2021 we presented a preview of the Charles Johnson Papers with a number of scans and overview of the contents.
- The magic in his hands: Charles Johnson’s artistic versatilityFor the occasion of Charles Johnson giving the keynote address at the Center for Humanities' Faculty Book Celebration, Joel Minor curated a small reading room exhibit with this accompanying digital presentation.
Additional Resources (external links)
- Charles Johnson websitePerhaps not still updated, but contains a good deal of relevant information on Johnson.
- Literary Mentors and Friends: An Interview with Charles JohnsonInterview with a former student, in 2010, on the literary friendships that have influenced Johnson's career.
- The Alchemy of Art: An Interview with Charles JohnsonInterview published in New England Review in 2016, mainly about Johnson's accomplishments in cartooning and illustration.
- Chicago Quarterly Review’s special edition: ‘An Anthology of Black American Literature’Audio interview from 2021 with WGN Radio’s Rick Kogan about the special edition of Chicago Quarterly Review, “An Anthology of Black American Literature.”
- Buddhist Reflections on Race and Liberation w/ Charles JohnsonAudio interview from 2021 in ERRATICUS about Buddhism and race, activism, creativity and more.