Cary Alan Johnson

Cary Alan Johnson is an author, activist and Africanist raised in Brooklyn and currently living in Central Africa.  He studied writing with Wesley Brown, Jane Copper Alexis DeVeaux, Randall Kenan, Louise Meriwether, and Susan Scarf-Merrell.  He has a Bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.  A long-time innovator in national and international queer politics and cultural activism, he was involved in several ground-breaking organizations, including the Blackheart Collective, Gay Men of African Descent, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Cary was a founding member of Other Countries, the Black gay arts collective that published 3 volumes of poetry, prose and visual art by Black gay men in the 80s and 90s.  His short stories, poetry and essays have appeared in anthologies and literary journals including Agni, RFD, Joseph Beam’s Brother to Brother and E. Lynn Harris’ Freedom in this Village. A public health and HIV specialist with experience living and working in Guinea, Haiti, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe, Cary is currently the director for Population Services International in Burundi.  Desire Lines (Querelle Press, 2022) is his debut novel.