Rob Johnson
Rob Johnson is a writer and actor from Sydney, Australia.
After completing a Media and Communications degree in 2012, Rob decided that journalism was too insecure a career path, and that he should instead pursue a career as a freelancer in the arts. He continues to be proud of this ill-informed decision.
Primarily a writer of short fiction, Rob enjoys exploring themes of emotional and social dislocation in suburban and rural contexts. He balances this with a strong penchant for speculative elements, absurdity, and outright weirdness.
Reflecting this eclecticism, his work has been described as “deeply compassionate” (Lucy Treloar, author of Salt Creek), “profoundly moving” (Peter Millard, Hal Porter Short Story Prize committee) and “fast-paced, unpredictable and maybe even actually insane” (James Colley, head writer for Gruen and The Weekly with Charlie Pickering).
Rob's short story collection, "The Following is a Work of Fiction", was shortlisted for the 2024 Australian/Vogel's Literary Award. His short fiction has been published by Overland, The Suburban Review, Aniko Magazine, Underground and Corvus Review; his poetry by Quadrant and Sunday Mornings at the River; and his non-fiction by Audrey Journal and Aniko Press. For the stage, he has written The Recidivists (Red Line Productions, 2020). He was the winner of the 2022 GWN Summer Short Story Competition, the 2020 Albury City Short Story Award, the 2018 Hal Porter Short Story Prize and the 2012 Best of Times Short Story Competition, and was shortlisted for the 2015 Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers. He was also a featured artist at the 2022 National Young Writers’ Festival in Newcastle.
As an actor, some of Rob’s credits include The Boomkak Panto (Belvoir), Calamity Jane (Belvoir/One Eyed Man), The Torrents (Sydney Theatre Company), The Detective's Handbook (Hayes Theatre Co), Musical Bang Bang (Adelaide Cabaret Festival), Of Thee I Sing (Sydney Philharmonia); Man of La Mancha (Squabbalogic) and Rosehaven (ABC).
For his performance as Francis Fryer in the national tour of Calamity Jane, Rob was nominated for the Green Room Award, Sydney Theatre Award and Glug Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. He is a two-time NSW Theatresports Champion, and a founding member of Sydney improv groups Bang Bang Rodeo and Baker’s Eight. In 2020, he was a national finalist for the Equity/Second City Comedy Scholarship.
In 2025, Rob will perform the role of Adam Maitland in the original Australian production of Beetlejuice The Musical (Michael Cassel Group), which plays at Melbourne's Regent Theatre from May.
Photo credit: Luke Stambouliah and Brett Boardman.
