Andrew R. Johnson
Assistant Professor, Creative Writing-Prose
Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80210
What I do
"Writing your first novel is like trying to swim underwater to an unknown location without a map, while learning to inhale water and exhale whale songs, while writing your first novel about trying to swim underwater to an unknown location without a map, while learning to inhale water and exhale whale songs." - A. Rafael JohnsonSpecialization(s)
Fiction, Magical Realism, African American literature
Professional Biography
A. Rafael Johnson earned a BA in Drama from The University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in Creative Writing from The University of Alabama. His debut novel The Through (Jaded Ibis Press, 2017) follows an estranged Black couple who discover a slave ship floating in the sky and was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. His short fiction, interviews, and essays have appeared in Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse, Whorizontal, The Slowdown Podcast, Short Story Today, Black Market Reads, African American Review, Callaloo, Temenos Journal, Kweli Journal, spaceship projects, and other outlets. His work has been anthologized in Excavating Honesty: An Anthology of Rage and Hope in America, Liver of Dixie, Tuscaloosa Writes This, Tuscaloosa Runs This, and The Pen is Mightier vol. 1 and 2. He has edited and co-edited for Fairy Tale Review, Black Warrior Review, The Cuttington Anthology of Liberian Literature, and Yes We Can. In 2022-2023, Johnson led the fiction cohort in the Loft Literary Center’s year-long creative writing mentorship. Johnson co-authored Creative Evaluation & Engagement: Essentials. A. Rafael Johnson is a fellow with Kimbilio Fiction.
Johnson’s work as a writer and evaluator has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the National Science Foundation, the Bush Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Books for Africa, GHR Foundation, Pillsbury United Communities, the Minnesota Humanities Center, Healthcare for the Homeless, The Vermont Studio Center, and other organizations.
Johnson’s work as a writer and evaluator has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the National Science Foundation, the Bush Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Books for Africa, GHR Foundation, Pillsbury United Communities, the Minnesota Humanities Center, Healthcare for the Homeless, The Vermont Studio Center, and other organizations.
Degree(s)
- MFA, Creative Writing, The University of Alabama, 2013
- BA, Drama, University of Texas, 1993
