SOURCE: Johnson, Charles, and Michael Boccia. “An Interview with Charles Johnson.” African American Review 30, no. 4 (winter 1996): 611-18.

In the following interview, Johnson discusses his personal history, his literary and philosophical influences, and issues of cultural identity.

When approached to participate in this interview, Charles Johnson responded with his usual enthusiasm: “Send me questions! I'll try to provide everything on my end.” So I sat down and produced questions dealing with three general areas—artist, art, and audience. To these questions, Johnson responded with insight and wit, providing information that illuminates his writing.

[Boccia]: Is there any little-known or unknown autobiographical information that would help us better understand your fiction?

[Johnson]: As you probably know, my creative work did not begin when I started writing fiction. In 1967, when I was 17, I began publishing as a cartoonist (my first three short stories were published that same year, but in my...