I love the fact that I was born in the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina. My mother, Beatrice Taylor Johnson, is a retired educator. My father, Douglas Johnson, Sr., is a retired Army colonel. Along with my older sister, Debbi, and my younger brother and sister, Dougie and Loretta, we lived in ten different states in  the United States, and also in  Iran and Germany.

It was there that I met my favorite teacher ever, Carol Johnson. She took us on thirty-six field trips, showed us one hundred seventeen films, and most important, had us do a creative writing assignment every week. That’s when I started writing poetry, in sixth grade, and I’ve been writing ever since.

I graduated from Spring Valley High School in Columbia, SC, went to college at Princeton University, earned my Ph.D. at Yale University, and now I’m back home in Columbia where I teach English at the University of South Carolina.

The most important thing about my life is that I’m the mother of Niani Sekai Feelings. One day, I hope to take her to the site that used to be the ancient city of Niani in West Africa. She is loving and joyful and smart and bold, like the children I love meeting on my school visits.

I always have many projects in the works, either in my mind or on paper. Very close to my heart is a documentary film I am helping to produce called Beautiful by Design: The Story of African American Children's Literature. But I'm very excited about my next two books with Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Acclaimed artist R. Gregory Christie is illustrating "Black Magic," a long poem about the different ways beautiful blackness is all around us. And I was very lucky to be asked to write the text for "Hair Dance," a collection of Kelly Johnson's photographs of gorgeous girls and their hair.

To learn more about me visit my biography on my University of South Carolina page.

Contact www.scetv.org to find out how to see my interview on "Writers Circle of South Carolina."