Allan Johnston

First Year Writing, Poetry, Literature

Allan Johnston did his undergraduate studies in English at California State University, Northridge, and received his M.A. in Creative Writing and Ph.D. in English (concentrated in Twentieth-Century American Literature) from the University of California, Davis. He has also done extensive course work in Education. He has been teaching at Columbia since 1998.

Allan's poetry has appeared in Poetry, Rhino, Midwest Quarterly, Weber Studies, and other journals, and he has published one poetry collection (Tasks of Survival, 1996) and has another near completion. In 1999 he received a fellowship in poetry from the Illinois Arts Council. He has also published studies on Modern American Literature, the teaching of literature, and other topics in Twentieth Century Literature, Review of Contemporary Fiction, McNeese Review, ISLE, AUMLA, and elsewhere. His teaching interests and areas of expertise include Composition, Poetry, Literature, American Literature, Creative Writing, Business Writing, and Literary Theory.

Links to some of Allan's poetry and other writings:

• "Waitress" (Rattle)
• "Mornings" (The Modern Review)
• "A review of El Condor and Other Stories by Sabine Ulibarri"
• "Desire Breeds Expression" (Cezanne's Carrot)
• "Lionheart" (Poetry Midwest)
• "Sun," "Broken Sonnet," "Old Town," "Ashes" (Softblow)
• "Objectifying Sensibilities: Reader Response and Its Discontents" (Radical Pedagogy)
• "The Eater of Avocados" (Rio)
• "Climbing Blue Canyon" (QLRS)
• "Range of Light"
• "A Clear Glass," "Waking," "To See Water," "Pavane" (Weber Studies)
• LitLine
• "The Moon at the Tail of the Train," "Long Rivers," "The Rain," "Voice," "Heuristics" (Weber Studies)
• "Seven Poems from Return" (Weber Studies)
• "Woman With Cigarette," "At Sam and Ed's," "Stars," "Burning the Gas" (Weber Studies)

Office Location: English Department, suite 300, 3rd floor, 33 E. Congress

Office Phone: 312-344-8262

FAX: 312-344-8001

Email: ajohnston@colum.edu

Mailing Address:
Allan Johnston
Department of English
Columbia College of Chicago
600 So. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605