SOURCE: Johnson, Charles, and William R. Nash. “A Conversation with Charles Johnson.” New England Review 19, no. 2 (spring 1998): 49-61.

In the following interview, Johnson discusses his early life, his literary and philosophical influences, and the role of the writer in African-American culture.

[Nash]: I'd like to begin with your childhood—what can you tell us about your early life experience that is important to an understanding of your work? How did your home environment influence your development as an artist?

[Johnson]: There's nothing unusual to report about my childhood, except perhaps that it was free of the stress that most sociologists seem to enjoy attributing to black life. I was an only child, the son of a mother who dreamed of being a school teacher (and was a Sunday school teacher) but for health reasons couldn't pursue that goal—she had severe asthma—so I became her only pupil...