Chris Johnson (he/they) was born and raised on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. This territory is colonially known as the district of Scarborough in Toronto, ON. Chris moved to Ottawa in 2009 to study at Carleton University where they received a BA and MA in English Literature. From 2012 to 2014 he was a co-editor of Carleton’s student-run literary magazine and press, In/Words, where they oversaw the publication of six issues and fifteen chapbooks. Before graduating in 2014 he was hired as the Coordinating Editor for Arc Poetry Magazine, where he is now the Managing Editor. In 2020 Chris joined the board of directors for the Ottawa Arts Council, and in 2021 he joined the selection committee at Bywords.ca. In Carleton University’s Winter 2023 term, Chris began teaching an experiential learning course designed for the purpose of establishing a new student-run online literary magazine.
After self-publishing their work on blogs, in zines, and in folded-and-stapled booklets in the early 2010s, Chris’ poetry and writing can now be found in literary journals and anthologies. Chris’ chapbooks of original poetry include Listen, Partisan! (Frog Hollow Press, 2016), Gravenhurst (above/ground press, 2019), and some of the raccoon poems (above/ground press, 2022). He has collaborated with other artists in Quatuor Gualuor (a sound poetry ensemble lead by jwcurry) and as a member of the creative collective VII (alongside Manahil Bandukwala, Ellen Chang-Richardson, Conyer Clayton, nina jane drystek, Margo LaPierre and Helen Robertson). Since VII’s formation in 2020, they have released two chapbooks of collaborative poetry: Towers (Collusion Books, 2021) and Holy Disorder of Being (Gap Riot Press, 2022).
Chris currently lives in Ottawa, the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
Literary CV
Contact:
chrisjohnson16@gmail.com
@ceeeejohnson
Chris Johnson 