Ian C. Johnston


Ian C. Johnston is a Canadian author and translator, a retired university-college instructor and a professor emeritus at Vancouver Island University.

Early life and education

Johnston was born in Valparaíso, Chile, to Dorothy and Kenneth Johnston. He attended the University of Toronto Schools during his high school years. At the post-secondary level, he was educated at McGill University, Montreal ; at the University of Bristol ; and at the University of Toronto.
He holds certificates from Ontario College of Education, Heidelberg University, and the Jarvis School of Welding.

Teaching career

Johnston taught high-school physics and chemistry at Upper Canada College, Toronto and high-school biology, mathematics, and Latin at Port Perry High School, Port Perry, Ontario. From 1969-70 he taught undergraduate English courses at the University of British Columbia. After that he joined the faculty of the College of New Caledonia, Prince George, British Columbia, where he taught undergraduate English and Classics from 1970 to 1975. From 1975-2004 he taught at Malaspina College and Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo.

Publications and other work

Johnston is the author of The Ironies of War: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. He has translated classic works from Greek, Latin, German, and French. Several of these translated works have been published by Broadview Press, including his translation of Kafka's The Metamorphosis, and/or produced as audiobooks by Naxos Audio Books in the UK.
A number of his translations have also been issued in book form by Richer Resources Publications. Johnston has posted over 75 essays and lectures on various literary topics on his website, as well as workbooks on essay writing, grammar, statistics, and the history of science.
Johnston also wrote Essays and Arguments: A Handbook for Writing Student Essays, released by Broadview Press in 2015.

Translations by Ian Johnston

Johnson lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife, Colleen Johnston.