What, Why, How: Arnold Johnston

What: 

I write in all forms–poetry, fiction, drama, non-fiction, and translation. My most recent individual works are Swept Away (due for release May 1 from Atmosphere Press), a contemporary novel set in Detroit, and Where We’re Going, Where We’ve Been (2020, FutureCycle Press), a poetry collection. I’m fortunate to work collaboratively with my very talented wife, Deborah Ann Percy (Johnston), on plays, which have been widely published and produced. 

Swept Away focuses on writer Dennis McCutcheon, who is facing the loss of his job at a small Pennsylvania university while coping with the aftereffects of a bitter divorce. When his alma mater Wayne State University offers to produce one of his plays, Swept Away, the news seems like the solution to all his problems. Once in Detroit, Dennis falls almost immediately into a love affair with a beautiful married woman, only to suddenly find himself mugged on a Detroit street, then suspected of killing his lover’s husband. His luck is coming at a price, and he begins to suspect he may be the pawn in a clever murder plot centering on sex and money. The publisher’s description follows: Filled with pop culture references, and spiced by possible paranormal activities, Arnie Johnston’s Swept Away is a raucous and unpredictable adventure unfolding amid Detroit neighborhoods and landmarks, a page-turning story questioning all the while America’s preoccupation with fame and fortune.

Why:

I started writing at a very early age, but didn’t become serious about it until after graduate school at the University of Delaware, where I earned a PhD in modern literature. I joined the English Department at Western Michigan University to teach modern literature and development of the novel, but I almost immediately began writing and publishing poetry and fiction, leading to my co-founding and teaching in WMU’s creative writing program. I also began acting in a wide array of plays onstage, and the success of my first full-length play The Witching Voice, about the Scottish poet Robert Burns, not only led to my writing a novel of the same title (Wings Press, 2009), but also to my founding WMU’s playwriting program. Meeting my wife Deborah Ann Percy (Johnston) began a decades-long love affair and a very successful collaboration on dozens of plays, both full-length and one-acts. Debby is also a wonderful fiction writer whose latest collection of short stories is Invisible Traffic (One Wet Shoe Publishing, 2014).

How:

Writing is something most writers can’t avoid, no matter how hard they may try. Stories are everywhere, and for me (and when I collaborate with Debby, both of us) the first step is letting the material–the stuff–tell what it wants to be: fiction, poetry, or drama. Sometimes it begins as one form and wrangles itself into another. The process is like solving a puzzle, finding or imposing shape and connection in apparent chaos, something like taking scraps of disparate material and stitching it into a quilt. All I have to do is keep my eyes and ears open: material is everywhere. The rest is technique, practice, and obsession, which is how those we call magicians create the illusions that let their audiences believe in magic.

Bio:

 Arnold Johnston lives in Kalamazoo and South Haven, MI. His poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and translations have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. His plays, and others written in collaboration with his wife, Deborah Ann Percy, have won some 300 productions, as well as numerous awards and publication across the country and internationally; and they’ve written, co-written, edited, or translated some twenty books. Arnie’s translations of Jacques Brel’s songs have appeared in numerous musical revues nationwide, and are also featured on his CD, Jacques Brel: I’m Here! A performer-singer, Arnie has played many solo concerts and over 100 roles on stage, screen, and radio. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Poets & Writers, the Associated Writing Programs, and the American Literary Translators Association. He was chairman of the English Department (1997-2007) and taught creative writing for many years at Western Michigan University in the program he co-founded. He is now a full-time writer.

Links:

Atmosphere Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Facebook
LinkedIn

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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security