Writing to Heal

Dr. Kendall Johnson grew up in the lemon groves in Southern California, raised by assorted coyotes and bobcats. A former firefighter with military experience, he served as a therapist and crisis consultant-often in the field. As a psychologist and trauma specialist, he has written several non-fiction books and numerous articles on trauma and school crisis. He trained crisis teams and rendered direct support following numerous school shootings, natural disasters, and 9/11. As a nationally certified teacher, he taught art and writing, served as a gallery director, and still serves on the board of the Sasse Museum of Art, for whom he authored the museum books Fragments: An Archeology of Memory (2017), an attempt to use art and writing to retrieve lost memories of combat, and Dear Vincent: A Psychologist Turned Artist Writes Back to Van Gogh (2020). He holds national board certification as an art teacher for adolescents to young adults. Dr. Johnson retired from teaching and clinical work in 2022 to pursue painting, photography, and writing full time. In that capacity he has written five literary books of artwork and poetry, and one in art history. His memoir collection, Chaos & Ash, was released from Pelekinesis in 2020, his Black Box Poetics from Bamboo Dart Press in 2021, and his The Stardust Mirage from Cholla Needles Press in 2022. His Fireflies series is published by Arroyo Seco Press: Fireflies Against Darkness (2021), More Fireflies (2022), and The Fireflies Around Us (2023). Kendall's shorter work has appeared in Chiron Review, Cultural Weekly, Literary Hub, MacQueen's Quinterly, Quarks Ediciones Digitales, and Shark Reef, and was translated into Chinese by Poetry Hall: A Chinese and English Bi-Lingual Journal. He serves as contributing editor for the Journal of Radical Wonder.

"Blending lived experience of trauma, professional expertise, and a passion for poetry and painting, Kendall Johnson shows us how to use our creative gifts to process, express, connect, survive, and thrive." -Lorette C. Luzajic, founding editor of The Ekphrastic Review and The Mackinaw"This beautifully written and resonant book is a legacy of the heart, from its author to all those who create, be it through the written word, visual arts, movement, or music.... With Johnson's own artworks interwoven through most of these essays, Writing to Heal gives us a richly illuminating tapestry of words and images." -From the publisher's introduction