E. Patrick Johnson

Professor and Chair

Department of Performance Studies

Professor, Department of African American Studies

Northwestern University

E. Patrick Johnson is Professor, Chair, and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Performance Studies and Professor in African American Studies at Northwestern University.   A scholar/artist, Johnson has performed nationally and internationally and has published widely in the area of race, gender, sexuality and performance.   His book Appropriating Blackness:   Performance and the Politics of Authenticity published by Duke University Press in 2003, has won several awards, including the Lilla A. Heston Award, the Errol Hill Book Award, and was a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.   He co-authored (with Mae G. Henderson) Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology with Duke University Press.

E. Patrick Johnson curriculum vita.  

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E. Patrick Johnson is currently performing Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Stories, based on excerpts from his book, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South—An Oral History, published by the University of North Carolina Press. The narratives were collected between 2004 and 2006 from black gay men who were born, raised, and continue to live in the South.   The men hail from fifteen different states and range in age from 19 to 93.

Pouring Tea
Recent/Upcoming Performances and Book Launch events

Yale University	February 2007	Read a review
University of Iowa	March 2007
Princeton University	March 2007
University of California-Berkeley	March 2007
American Studies Association Convention	October 2007
University of Illinois-Chicago	October 2007
UCLA	February 2008
Amherst College	February 2008
DePaul University	March 2008
University of Michigan	March 2008	Read a blog-review
University of Georgia	April 2008	Read a blog-review
University of Maryland	April 2008
Outwrite books, Atlanta, GA: Book Launch and Signing	August 29, 2008, 8:00 pm
Decatur Book Fear, Decatur, GA: Book Signing	August 30-31, 2008, 3:45 pm
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill: Book Launch and Performance. (Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center)	September 25, 2008	Read a review Radio Interview
Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC: Book Signing	September 26, 2008, 7:00 pm
Northwestern University: Book Launch/Signing and Performance, McCormick-Tribune Center, 1870 Campus Drive	October 2, 2008, 5:30 pm	Read an article in Edge Chicago. See also EdgeNewYork.
Ohio State University: Book Signing and Performance. Drake Center's Roy Bowen Theatre, 1849 Cannon Dr. Ticket Information: Free to OSU Students, one ticket per Buck-ID. $5 General admission for non-students. Info: 614-292-2295	October 3, 2008, 7:00 pm	Read a review
Indiana University: Book Signing and Performance. Fine Arts Building, Rm 015, Bloomington, Indiana	November 3, 2008, 7:30 pm
Lambda Rising Bookstore, Washington, D.C.: Book Signing	November 6, 2008, 6:30 pm
A Different Light Bookstore: Reading 8853 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood CA 90069 310-854-6601	November 22, 2008 7:30 pm
Miami Ohio University Peabody Hall, Western Campus	February 3, 2009 7:00 pm
LGBT Resource Center of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Performance UWM Music Recital Hall	February 7, 2009
Bryant University Smithfield, RI Janikies Theatre	February 9, 2009 4:30 pm
Bridgewater State College Horace Mann Auditorium	February 10, 2009 8:00 pm
Southern American Studies Association Dewberry North, Johnson Center	February 12, 2009 5:00 pm
A Different Light Bookstore: Book signing San Francisco (UNC Alumni reception to follow)	February 24, 2009 7:30 pm
San Jose State University Hal Todd Theatre (Hugh Gillis Hall 103)	February 25, 2009 7:00 pm
San Francisco State University Humanities Auditorium (HUM 133)	February 26, 2009 8:00 pm
Alexander Bookstore : Book signing San Francisco, CA	February 27, 2009 12:30 pm
Gay Pride Rockland County New York: Book signing Nyack Library 59 S. Broadway Nyack, NY	March 1, 2009 4:00 pm
The LOFT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community of the Lower Hudson Valley): Book signing	March 2, 2009 7:00 pm
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies City University of New York 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th/35th streets) Proshansky Auditorium	March 3, 2009 7:00 pm
Chicago Historical Museum Performance with Sharon Bridgforth	March 26, 2009 7:00 pm
University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse Cartwright Center	April 1, 2009 7:00 pm
Michigan State University Auditorium Arena Theater	April 6, 2009 7:00 pm
University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign Lincoln Theater 704-706 Wright St., Urbana 217-244-3277	April 8, 2009 7:00 pm
Wild Pug: Book Reading/Signing 4810 N. Broadway, Chicago	April 9, 2009 8:00 pm
Vassar College Student Center, 2nd Floor	April 16, 2009 7:00 pm
Giovanni's Room Bookstore: Book Reading/Signing 345 South 12th St. Philadelphia, PA	April 26, 2009 5:30 pm
University of California, Santa Barbara: Performance Multi-Cultural Center Theater	May 5, 2009 7:00 pm
Northwestern University Annie May Swift Hall Studio 1920 Campus Drive Evanston, IL	May 15, 2009 8:00 pm May 16, 2009 2:00 pm, 8:00 pm
Cornell University Schwartz Center for Performing Arts (Room SB10)	Sept 10, 2009 4:30 pm
Kennesaw State University Bailey Performing Arts Center 1000 Chastain Road Kennesaw, GA 30144 770 423 6650 Purchase tickets	Sept 18, 2009 8:00 pm Sept 19, 2009 8:00 pm
University of Louisville Thrust Theater	September 22, 2009 7:00 pm
Fire & Ink Cotillion Ballet Austin, 701 W. Riverside Drive, Austin TX.	October 10, 2009 Time 8:00 PM
Texas A & M University Rudder Forun	October 12, 2009 7:00 pm
New York University Shoring Performance Studio, Room 802 Kimmel Center for University Life 60 Washington Square South New York, NY	October 14, 2009 7:00 pm
Vanderbilt University 202 Buttrick Hall	October 15, 2009 4:30 pm
OutLoud! Bookstore 1703 Church St. Nashville, TN 615-340-0034	October 16, 2009 7:00 pm
University of South Carolina-Upstate Jazzman's Cafe, Bottom floor of Smith building	October 17, 2009 4:00 pm
Southern Illinois University Library Auditorium	October 21, 2009 6:30 pm
Tulane University Woldenberg Art Center Freeman Auditorium 1229 Broadway Street New Orleans, LA	October 26, 2009 7:30 pm
Duke University Love Auditorium Levine Research Science Center 450 Research Dr Durham, NC .	October 29, 2009 7:30 pm
University of Vermont Billings Building, North Lounge Burlington VT	November 2, 2009 10:00 am
First Person Festival Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 800-838-3006	November 8, 2009 6:00 pm
Kutztown University 218 McFarland Student Union Tickets: 484-646-4111	November 10, 2009 7:00 pm
Chicago Humanities Festival Chicago History Museum 1601 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL	November 15, 2009 12:00 noon
American Anthropological Association Carriage House 3907 Spruce Street UPenn Campus	December 2, 2009 7:00pm
Black Gay Research Summit Retreat Keynote speaker The Renaissance Concourse Hotel Atlanta, GA	January 20, 2010 5:00pm
Louisiana State University Hopkins Black Box Theater	January 23, 2010 7:30pm
Carleton College Convocation Speaker Skinner Memorial Chapel	February 5, 2010 11:00am
University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union Play Circle Theater	February 9, 2010 7:30pm
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Kresge Little Theatre	February 16, 2010 Time TBA
University of Virginia Location TBA	February 24, 2010 Time TBA
Bernheim Hall - Ben May Main Library 701 Government St. Mobile, AL	March 6, 2010 3:00pm
Sonoma State University Warren Auditorium	March 16, 2010 Time TBA
Rutgers University Location TBA	April 1, 2010 Time TBA

For information on bringing Pouring Tea to your campus, please contact:  
E. Patrick Johnson

Pouring Tea in performance:

 

E. Patrick Johnson's previous performance piece, Strange Fruit, an exploration of racial and gender identity, has been staged at more than 20 colleges and universities. Strange Fruit is a one-man performance written, directed and performed by Professor Johnson, exploring identity politics. Attending to recent developments in critical race, queer, feminist and gender theory, the performance elaborates on how identities are bound to political agendas that circulate within various communities.

Threatened by the ever impending "exorcism" of his own identities of black, gay, southern, male and academic (among others), the performer enacts his personal narrative, poetry, dance, music, and visual media to call into question essentialist notions of "authentic" blackness, masculinity and sexuality.

Images from Strange Fruit:

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