Johnson, Peter, 1951-

Peter Johnson has published four books of prose poems: Rants and Raves, 2010; Pretty Happy!, 1997; Miracles & Mortifications, 2001; and Eduardo & “I”, 2006. He has also published a book of short stories, I’m a Man, 2003), and two novels: What Happened (Front Street Books, 2007) and Loserville (Front Street Books, 2009).

For his poetry, he has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a Rhode Island Council on the Arts fellowship, and his second book of poems was awarded the 2001 James Laughlin Award by The Academy of American Poets. This award is given to honor a second book by an American author.

His novel, What Happened, received the 2008 Paterson Prize for young adult fiction and was named the Rhode Island Book of the Year for secondary schools by The Alliance for the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature. It was also chosen as one of the “Best Books for the Teenaged” by the NY Public Library and “Best New Books for the Classroom” by Booklinks.

He founded The Prose Poem: An International Journal, which he edited for nine years, and he is a contributing editor of, Sentence, and Slope. He lives in Providence, RI with his wife and two sons.

From the guide to the Prose Poem's of Peter M. Johnson, 1973-2006, (Phillips Memorial Library, Special and Archival Collections)