“His poems are of plain speak and verbal music, of erudition and common sense. They are learned poems, but they are also accessible. And, most of all, they are deeply felt.”
Davis McCombs

“Undoubtedly, this is a work
headed for literary permanence
in our collective ear.”
Major Jackson

For the more than forty years J. Chester Johnson has written verse, his work received praise from writers and poets spanning several decades – from, among others, Allen Tate and Nobel Laureate I. B. Singer to current, well-known poets, such as Molly Peacock and Major Jackson.

Available at Amazon.com, St. Johann Press or at your favorite book store!

NOW AND THEN: SELECTED LONGER POEMS

“The scope of NOW AND THEN is epic. It provides its readers with the same amplitude of intelligence, passion and formal achievement as our great American epics – Melville’s MOBY DICK, Whitman’s LEAVES OF GRASS, and Ginsberg’s FALL OF AMERICA. It is a book of fierce spiritual and moral witness, energy and power.”
Lawrence Joseph

Available for presale. Click here to contact St. Johann Press for details.

Johnson’s drama in verse, “For Conduct And Innocents,” about the martyr and 20th century theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was presented as a multi-media event (drama, music, dance, film) on Oct. 18, 2015 at Trinity Wall Street with nearly 50 performers participating.
Click here to see the full performance.

To read the full text, click here.

“I love the Bonhoeffer play...The whole dynamic of moral indignation and spiritual ardor, combining and recombining there in endless variation – a quality the lyrics also possess – made the reading fascinating.”
Vijay Seshadri

“What an amazing undertaking – so impressive in scope, intent and understanding. This must have taken years of energy.”
Molly Peacock