ROBERT DEAN JOHNSON

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POSITIONS HELD

Professor of English, Eastern Kentucky University, 2008 – present (promoted 2019)

Director, Bluegrass Writers Studio Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, Eastern Kentucky University, Apr – Jul 2015 (acting), Aug 2015 – present (official)

Instructor of Fiction, Gotham Writers Workshop, 2007 – present

Instructor of English, Cameron University, 2005 – 2008;

Instructor of English, Yavapai College, 2004 – 2005

Academic Advisor, Prescott College, 2004 – 2005

Instructor of English, Prescott College, 2003 – 2005

 

EDUCATION

MFA Creative Writing – Fiction, Arizona State University, 2003

MA English – Creative Writing, Kansas State University, 1997

BS Business Administration – Marketing, Cal Poly Pomona, 1991

 

BOOKS

Californium (fiction), Plume – Penguin, July 2016

Something L.A. (creative nonfiction chapbook) Blue Cubicle Press, September 2015

Delicate Men: Stories (fiction), Alternative Book Press, December 2014

Teachable Moments: Essays on Experiential Education (editor), UP of America, Mar 2006

 

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

FICTION

            Liars’ League – NYC. (Fall 2013): “Concrete”

            Coe Review  (Spring 2013): “Something Good”

            Atticus Review  (Fall 2011): “Outside the Palace”

            Juked (Spring 2010): “Beginner’s Guide to Brugge”

            Ruminate  (Summer 2007): “Catching Atoms”

            Santa Clara Review (Spring 2004): “Captain of the Drive”

            New Orleans Review (Spring 2004): “The People We Were”

CREATIVE NONFICTION

            Cimarron Review (forthcoming): “Simple Math.”

            Salt Hill (Spring 2016): “Errors.”

            Hawai’i Pacific Review (Spring 2014): “Something L.A.”

            Louisville Review (Spring 2014): “How to Write a Great Baseball Story”

           Slice Magazine (Fall 2008): “Saints with Toys.”

           Natural Bridge (Fall 2007): “Water Gates”

           The Southern Review (Summer 2006): “Everybody Knows Freedom”

           Ascent (Winter 2004): “A Few Hills Over From Hollywood.”

 

NONFICTION

          F. Scott Fitzgerald Review (Fall 2002): “Say It Ain’t So, Jay: Fitzgerald’s Use of                Baseball in The Great Gatsby”

           Hayden’s Ferry Review (Spring 2002): “The Environment and Factual Story-telling: An Interview with Christopher Cokinos”

 

HONORS AND AWARDS

Pushcart Prize Nominations:  “Something LA” (creative nonfiction), Hawai’i Pacific Review, 2014; “Beginner’s Guide to Brugge” (fiction), Juked, 2011; “The People We Were” (fiction), New Orleans Review, 2004.

Junior Faculty Research Grant. Eastern Kentucky University, summer 2011.

Million Writers Award Nomination, 100 Notable Stories of 2008:  “Captain of the Drive,” Workplace Anthology, 2008.

Artist Residency, Hall Farm Center for the Arts, Townshend, VT, 2006.

Professional Development Grant, Arizona Commission on the Arts, 2002.

 

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS

American Literature (modernism – present), Creative Writing (creative/literary nonfiction, fiction, hybrid forms), hurling clubs and their connection to Irish independence movement, implied author in creative nonfiction, literature of baseball (biography/memoir, Earle Combs, literary fiction, Negro Leagues)

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT

Advanced Composition

Advanced Fiction Workshop

Creative Nonfiction Workshop

Creative Writing Mentorship

Introduction to Creative Writing (multi-genre)

Literature of Baseball

Principles of Literary Studies

Summer Creative Writing Conference

 

GRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT

Creative Nonfiction Workshop

Fiction Workshop

Forms of Creative Nonfiction

Forms of the Novel

Hybrid Genres Workshop

Seminar in Creative Writing – Creative Nonfiction

Writers on Writing

Writing Across Genres

 

SERVICE

INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE – EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Strategic Planning Committee, spring 2016 – present

Graduate Committee, fall 2015 – present

MFA Program Committee, fall 2013 – present (Chair, August 2015 – present)

Faculty Senate, fall 2012 – spring 2015

Co-Chair, Elections and University Nominations Committee, fall 2012 – spring 2015

Undergraduate Committee, fall 2009 – spring 2015

Merit Pay Committee, fall 2008 – spring 2014

RPAD Revision Work Group – spring 2010, spring 2014

MFA Program Work Group, fall 2008 – spring 2013

Online Program Work Group, fall 2010 – spring 2011

Judge, College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Award for Merit, spring 2011

Internal Judge, AWP Intro Awards, 2009 – 2010

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION AND COMMUNITY

Co-founder and host, Shouts & Murmurs Open Mic and Reading Series, Babylon Garden, Fall 2008 – Spring 2017

Coordinator, EKU Summer Creative Writing Conference, 2011 and 2012

Reader, Memoir (and), Spring 2010 – Spring 2012

Coordinator, Leigh Holmes Award in Creative Nonfiction, 2007 – 2008

MFA Thesis Outside Reader, Georgia College & State University, 2005

Fiction Editor, Hayden’s Ferry Review, January 2002 – May 2003

Associate Fiction Editor, Hayden’s Ferry Review, August 1999 – December 2001

Associate Fiction Editor, Black Warrior Review, August 1998 – May 1999

 

PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS/READINGS

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS

“You’ve Got a Complete Manuscript, Now What?” Southern Kentucky Book Festival, Bowling Green, KY, April 2017.

“You’ve Got a Book Deal, Now What?” Berea Writers Circle, Berea, KY, September 2016.

“Defamiliarization: How Details Win the Day.”  Licking Valley Writer’s Conference, Cynthiana, KY, September 2013.

“Writing Real: An introduction to Creative Nonfiction.”  The Military Experience and Arts Symposium, Eastern Kentucky University, July 2012.

“Researching Memory.”  Junior Faculty Research Grant Poster Presentation, Eastern Kentucky University, November 2011.

“You Know it Scares You: Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Write Second-Person POV.”  Ohio Festival of the Short Story, University of Cincinnati, May 2010.

“Agents & Editors Panel.”  Desert Nights Rising Stars Conference, Arizona State University, March 2003.

“Can the Guy Behind the Guy Be a Girl?:  Writing as the Other.”  The Southwest Literature Symposium, Arizona State University, March 2002.

“The Endless Road Trip:  The Negro Leagues’ Barnstorming Tours of the South.” The Alabama Graduate Students Conference, University of Alabama, March 1999

SELECTED READINGS

Emporia, KS – Emporia State University, March 2017

Portland, OR – Late Night Library, December 2016

Long Beach, CA – Gatsby Books, October 2016

Lawton, OK – Cameron University, September 2016

St. Louis, MO – Subterranean Books, September 2016

Lisbon, Portugal – Livraria Ferin, July 2016

Murfreesboro, TN – Baseball in Literature and Culture Conference, Middle Tennessee State University, April 2009-10, 2012-2015

Richmond, KY – Kentucky Philological Association Conference, March 2010.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico – Bluegrass Writers Studio Summer Residency, July 2009.

Ada, OK – Scissortail Writers Festival, East Central University, April 2007-2009.

SELECTED INTERVIEWS (as subject)

Curtains@8 (NPR: WUKY 91.3). 3 November 2016

The How The Why (podcast: http://1888.center/the-how-the-why-154-r-dean- johnson/). 20 October 2016.

Fuhrious with Paul Fuhr (podcast: http://www.buzzsprout.com/56402). 3 October 2016.

“Johnson’s Californium Explores How Life Functions Beneath Appearances.” Interview with Ellen Birkett Morris, Authorlink.com. 1 August 2016

REFERENCES

KL Cook, Associate Professor, Creative Writing, Iowa State University

Lisa Day, Assoc Prof, Director, Women and Gender Studies, Eastern Kentucky Univ

Gerald Nachtwey, Assoc Prof of English, Graduate Program Coordinator, EKU

Derek Nikitas, Assistant Professor, Creative Writing, University of Rhode Island

Lynnette Noblitt, Chair, Department of Government and Economics, EKU