S. Wilson and Grace M. Pollock Professor of English
University of Washington

Whole Sight:
The Intersection of Culture, Faith, and the Imagination

“Among the most brilliant writers in America, Charles Johnson possesses a complex vision of art, spirituality, culture, and race that is expressed most powerfully, no doubt, in his wonderful novels and short stories.” - Arnold Rampersad, Stanford University

From his creative beginnings as a political cartoonist and journalist to his success as a novelist, essayist, short story writer, screen-and-teleplay writer, and university professor, Charles Johnson is a model of an interdisciplinary life.

Charles Johnson is the S. Wilson and Grace M. Pollock Professor of English at the University of Washington. A 1998 MacArthur Fellow, Dr. Johnson received the 1990 National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage (1990) and was a 2002 recipient of the Academy Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has published collections of short fiction, screenplays, critical essays on literature and Buddhism, and has written numerous articles on writing, education, and other contemporary issues. Recent publications include Dr. King’s Refrigerator and Other Bedtime Stories (2005), Turning the Wheel: Essays on Buddhism and Writing (2003), and Africans in America: America’s Journey through Slavery (1998), the companion book for the PBS series co-authored with Patricia Smith.

Kane Hall 120
Reception to follow in the Walker-Ames Room.