caption birth_place nationality birth_date image article_title occupation
writer and black american literature scholar , academic , artist , philosopher , buddhist evanston , illinois , us american 23 april 1948 200px charles r. johnson
 writer and black american literature scholar , academic , artist , philosopher , buddhist
charles r. johnson

charles richard johnson -lrb- born april 23 , 1948 -rrb- is an african-american scholar and the author of novels , short stories , screen-and-teleplays , and essays , most often with a philosophical orientation .
johnson has directly addressed the issues of black life in america in novels such as `` dreamer '' and `` middle passage '' .
`` middle passage '' won the u.s. national book award for fiction in 1990 -lrb- with essay by sherrie young from the awards 60-year anniversary blog . -rrb-
