Cyrée Jarelle Johnson (born 1990) is an American poet, editor, and librarian. He co-founded the literary magazine ''Deaf Poets Society'' and is currently a librarian at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was founded in 1887 ...

. His debut poetry collection ''Slingshot'' received a

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a gay-themed book of poetry by a male writer. At the first two Lambda Literary Awards in 1989 and 1990, a single award for LGBT P ...

Early life and education

Johnson was raised in

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway () is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan Valley. At the 2010 United States Census, the population was 56,044, an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) f ...

, and grew up a household he described as "abusive". He received his bachelor's degree from

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mo ...

and completed his MFA in creative writing at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 2019. Johnson was diagnosed with autism when he was about four years old and with

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Commo ...

in college. He stated in an interview for

Mashable Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were ...

, "Autism scholarship characterizes folks on the spectrum as 'black and white thinkers' — and that's quite true for me. What I love, I love with verve and fervor. What I hate, I hate with verve and fervor."

Career

Johnson is co-founder and poetry editor of ''Deaf Poets Society'' literary magazine, which was created in 2016 to specifically center works by writers with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

and those who are d/Deaf. The magazine was developed with accessibility in mind, such as providing works in various formats including text, audio, and images. Johnson is an assistant professor and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Librarian at

. He is also a former Chapter Lead for

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

Philadelphia. He described his work as indirectly addressing disability and "what ehad to do to stay alive." He published his debut poetry collection ''Slingshot'' in 2019 under

Nightboat Books Nightboat Books is an American nonprofit literary press founded in 2004 and located in Brooklyn, New York. The press publishes poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and intergenre books. History The press was founded in 2004 by Kazim Ali an ...

. In a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review Stephanie Burt described the collection: "It’s challenging work, in its language, its stories, its subcultural references (“prince died for fem bois”), yet it offers pellucid queer intimacies."

Personal life

Johnson is

transmasculine A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

and uses he/him pronouns. Johnson is gay. He is married to

Azure D Osborne-Lee Azure D. Osborne-Lee is an American theatre maker. His plays include “Crooked Parts,” which was published in ''The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays'', and "Mirrors," which premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Th ...

and they reside in Brooklyn.

Accolades

* 2020 -

(for ''Slingshot'') * 2020 - Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship,

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist R ...

Works

* 2019. Slingshot. First edition paperback, publication date 17 September 2019, Nightboat Books.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Cyrée Jarelle 1990 births Living people People from Piscataway, New Jersey Writers from New Jersey Poets from New Jersey African-American poets African-American librarians American librarians Poets with disabilities American gay writers African-American LGBT people Hampshire College alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Pratt Institute faculty Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry winners LGBT people from New Jersey People on the autism spectrum People with lupus 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American LGBT people African-American male writers American transgender writers American writers with disabilities