Arnold Johnston

Arnold Johnston lives in Kalamazoo and South Haven, MI. Cofounder of Western Michigan University’s creative writing program and founder of its playwriting program, he taught in the WMU Department of English for many years and served for ten years as its chair. His plays, and others written in collaboration with his wife, Deborah Ann Percy, have won awards, production, and publication across the country. His poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translations have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. His books include Sonnets: Signs and Portents, What the Earth Taught Us, The Witching Voice: A Novel from the Life of Robert Burns, Of Earth and Darkness: The Novels of William Golding, and (withMs. Percy) Duets: Love Is Strange. His translations of Jacques Brel’s lyrics have appeared in many successful stage revues and on his CD, Jacques Brel: I’m Here! He has translated songs by Gabriel Fauré, and his translation of Wilhelm Müller’s lyrics for Schubert’s Winterreise premiered in 2010. Heis a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Playwrights’ Center, and the American Literary Translators Association.