Robert Dean Johnson’s work life has taken him from Disneyland to ad agencies to the college classroom to the Bluegrass Writers Studio. In the latest plot twist, Johnson has stepped into the role of director of the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing. While he’s only been on campus for a few weeks, he’s enjoying the vibe and getting to know the culture that the low-residency program has built over the last twenty years so he can help to craft the next chapter.
Johnson didn’t follow a straightforward path to his career as a writer. He grew up in Anaheim, California, and attended Cal Poly Pomona, earning a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a focus in marketing. But rather than writing ad copy, he found himself delving into fiction.
“It wasn’t until the end of my undergraduate that I found myself wanting to write stories,” says Johnson. “I was getting a business degree, and I was clever, but I didn’t have much experience with literature.”
But he did have experience with stories, courtesy of his mother’s side of the family. “They were storytellers,” says Johnson. “And I found out very quickly that when there was a family gathering, if you could tell a good story, everyone listened to you. So, storytelling became really important.”
Johnson took his business degree and his way with words to an ad agency, where he worked as a copywriter. He continued to write short stories and stock up on the classics at the local bookstore, reading in his downtime and grabbing a new book each week or so.
Then jury duty on a rare, rainy day in southern California and a new copy of Catcher in the Rye sealed the writing deal. Johnson finished the J.D. Salinger classic in a day, captivated by the story and the style. “At that moment, that’s when I thought, ‘If I’m gonna keep doing this, I need to have somebody tell me all the things I don’t even know I don’t know,” he says.
Johnson was admitted to Kansas State University’s master of arts program in English with a concentration in creative writing. The degree provided the foundation he needed, giving him the background in literature, theory and the literary marketplace to continue his education.
While pursuing his master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Arizona State University, he took on some introductory literature and writing courses, discovering a love for teaching and helping others improve their work in the process.
“I love spending my days reading people’s work. Every piece is different, and I love the challenge of that. And I love reading something I never would have written,” says Johnson. “Then I’ve got to get in front of a workshop and say, ‘How can we make this piece better? Let’s talk about what’s going on, what this piece is doing well, what opportunities the author has created and see if we can make this piece even better.’ That keeps it fresh. It never gets old.”
Johnson put his teaching talents to work at Prescott College and Yavapai College in Arizona, Cameron University in Oklahoma, the Gotham Writers Workshop in New York and Eastern Kentucky University. He was appointed director of the university’s Bluegrass Writers Studio in 2015.
During this time, Johnson also kept up the family storytelling tradition, now on the page. His fiction appears in Evening Street Review, Liars’ League – NYC and New Orleans Review, among other outlets. Johnson edited Teachable Moments: Essays on Experiential Education. “It’s the first book with my name on it,” he says. “It helped me to get my next job, and it was on my query letters for a long time.” His own books include Delicate Men: Stories, Something L.A. and Californium.
And, while Johnson primarily considers himself a fiction writer, his next book is creative nonfiction. Poser: A Mostly-True Memoir-in-Essays, will be released in February 2028 by Vine Leaves Press. “It’s about faking it until you almost make it and imposter syndrome,” says Johnson. “One of the things I love about creative nonfiction, I think people might assume at first it’s going to be very limiting because you have to tell the truth with a capital ‘T’. And no, it’s emotional truth.”
After 11 years leading the program that helped other creatives discover their truths at Bluegrass Writers Studio, Johnson planned to return to a full-time faculty position at Eastern Kentucky. Then his wife, writer Julie Hensley, brought the director position at Wilkes to his attention.
“The more I learned about the program, the more I liked it,” Johnson says. “And then, meeting everyone, everyone was so kind and encouraging. More than anything, everyone is so enthusiastic about this program. The vibe of this MA/MFA program is so good. I feel very lucky to step into a program that feels like it’s firing on all cylinders.”
Now, as Johnson gets to know campus, the creative writing program and the surrounding community, he can’t wait to welcome other writers to the fold and help them feel at home, regardless of where their stories started.
“We’re looking for people who are enthusiastic about writing and have potential. Your pedigree or who you know doesn’t matter. We’re going to put in the time with you. That just makes me excited. It makes me feel very much at home,” says Johnson. “Your MFA program should be your writing family, and your family supports you. Your MFA program, even as an alum, should always feel like family. It should always feel like coming home.”