- Description
- 3.4 linear feet (5 archival boxes, 1 flat box)
- Note
- Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
- Source (note)
- Biography (note)
- Brad Johnson was a gay African-American poet and writer. Born in California in 1952, and raised in Philadelphia, he graduated from Yale University after spending his junior year in France. His early poems were in French, but his publishing career as a poet began in 1985 and continued through the 1990s, chiefly in anthologies including "In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology," edited by Joseph Beam, and Black, gay-oriented periodicals such as "The Pyramid Periodical." Major themes of his poems include love, romance, sex, homophobia, and loneliness. After the 1990s, he described his writing output as "scant" and eventually he became "reclusive and stopped writing." Johnson died in 2011 from complications due to AIDS.
- Call Number
- Sc MG 844
- Author
Johnson, Brad, 1952-2011.
- Title
Brad Johnson papers, approximately 1970-2011.
- Summary
The Brad Johnson Papers, 1952-2011, are arranged into three series: Biographical, Writings, and Correspondence. The Biographical file documents the major events in his life: education, Navy career, work history, involvement in gay organizations, publishing history, and diaries. The Writings series forms the bulk of the collection, especially his poems, both published and unpublished. The Correspondence series contains a significant amount of letters from a former lover, the musician and conductor, Charles Darden, and others. Of note is a long "coming-out" letter to his parents expressing the anger and loneliness of the gay Black man in America.
- Biography
Brad Johnson was a gay African-American poet and writer. Born in California in 1952, and raised in Philadelphia, he graduated from Yale University after spending his junior year in France. His early poems were in French, but his publishing career as a poet began in 1985 and continued through the 1990s, chiefly in anthologies including "In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology," edited by Joseph Beam, and Black, gay-oriented periodicals such as "The Pyramid Periodical." Major themes of his poems include love, romance, sex, homophobia, and loneliness. After the 1990s, he described his writing output as "scant" and eventually he became "reclusive and stopped writing." Johnson died in 2011 from complications due to AIDS.
- Connect to:
- Local Subject
Black author.
- Research Call Number
Sc MG 844