On January 11, J. Chester Johnson appeared as guest for National Radio Interviews on “Ed Tyll Show” of Starcom Radio Network to talk about the status of poetry in the United States, including the relevance of Johnson’s latest books, Auden, the Psalms, and Me and Now And Then: Selected Longer Poems. Also, among the topics covered were the importance of truth in poems, the role of poets in our nation’s arts, and the endurance that poets must exhibit to have their voices heard today. Johnson spent considerable time describing his own journey over many decades following “his own nose” in pursuit of his own muse and voice. Click below to hear the thirty-minute interview.
On Wednesday, October 25th, 2017, J. Chester Johnson was interviewed by the nationally syndicated Ed Tyll Show, and this interview was broadcast live nationally over 40 radio stations. The interview focused mainly on Johnson’s book, Auden, the Psalms, and Me, which was published in September, 2017. You can listen by clicking below.
J. Chester Johnson returned to the site of the 1919 Elaine Race Massacre, one of the deadliest assaults on African-Americans in our country’s history. The event and its ramifications in Phillips County, Arkansas, where the Massacre actually occurred, were discussed at this presentation. J. Chester Johnson, whose maternal grandfather participated in the Elaine Race Massacre, was joined by Sheila Walker, whose family members, including her great-grandmother and great uncles, were among the victims. Since Sheila and Chester had antecedents representing the two sides of the conflagration, they have, over the last several years, committed to a reconciliation of the inter-racial and generational trauma that has been associated with the massacre.
Video Courtesy of Delta Cultural Center
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.
Courtesy of Trinity Wall Street, New York
J. Chester Johnson gave the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday sermon at Trinity Wall Street on Sunday, January 18, 2015 at 11:15AM.
Courtesy of Trinity Wall Street, New York
J. Chester Johnson was the featured poet appearing at the Kairos Poetry Café, St. John’s Lutheran Church in the West Village, on Sunday, November 17th, 2013. Johnson read a number of his shorter poems – some older pieces, some new. He introduced each poem with a short comment on the event or salient motif that inspired the creation of the verse.
Courtesy of Kairos Poetry Café
Remembrance and Reconciliation Through Poetry
Seven leading American poets, including J. Chester Johnson, read poems of remembrance and reconciliation on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at Trinity Wall Street, located only a few yards from Ground Zero; the event was sponsored by Poets House and others.
Courtesy of Trinity Wall Street in the City of New York
Courtesy of Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History
Original poems from his latest book of verse, St. Paul’s Chapel & Selected Shorter Poems.
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- Damaged Heritage: Anti-Racism Text at St. Luke in the Fields; Click Here.
- J. Chester Johnson's "Night" Featured by Carnegie Hill Village. Click Here.
- J. Chester Johnson Named To Board of Advisors For Poetry Outreach Center. Click Here To Read More.
- For Recent Conversation Among Descendants of the Elaine Race Massacre 104 Years Later
Click Here.
- J. Chester Johnson Interviewed by Tavis Smiley. Click Here.
- For Cornelius Eady’s Interview of J. Chester Johnson for Poets House/WBAI, Click Here.
- For NPR Article on Elaine and Tulsa Race Massacres, Click Here.
- HNN Publishes Article by J. Chester Johnson on Father of Black Liberation Theology. Click Here.
- J. Chester Johnson Discovers Another Consequential Race Massacre. Click Here.
- Book Review from Green Mountains Review of Damaged Heritage. Click Here.
- Crystal Bridges Museum Features Elaine Massacre and J. Chester Johnson. Click Here.
- LitHub: J. Chester Johnson Interviewed for ‘Keen On’ Podcast About Damaged Heritage, click here.
- Published Profile for J. Chester Johnson in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, click here.
- To review selections on the Elaine Race Massacre and Elaine Massacre Memorial, click here.
- AP Story of the Elaine Race Massacre Features Interview With J. Chester Johnson. Click Here For More Information.
- Poem by J. Chester Johnson Embedded in DeWoody Art. Click Here For More Information.