デニス・ジョンソン（Denis Johnson、1949年–2017年）は、アメリカの小説家、短編作家、詩人、劇作家。旧西ドイツのミュンヘンに生まれ、父親の仕事に伴って日本やフィリピンなどで少年時代を過ごし、のちにアイオワ大学ライターズ・ワークショップで学んだ。依存症や犯罪を抱えて生きる人々の意識と日常を描いた連作短編集『ジーザス・サン』（Jesus’ Son）によって広く知られるようになった。ベトナム戦争下の諜報活動と暴力の連鎖を描いた『煙の樹』（Tree of Smoke）は全米図書賞を受賞し、ピュリツァー賞の最終候補となった。死後に刊行された『海の乙女の惜しみなさ』（The Largesse of the Sea Maiden）を含む作品群では、戦争、依存、孤独、死に直面する人々と、その生活に不意に現れる救済や恩寵の瞬間を描いている。
Denis Johnson (1949–2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, poet, and playwright. Born in Munich, West Germany, he spent parts of his childhood in Japan and the Philippines because of his father’s work and later studied at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He became widely known for “Jesus’ Son,” a linked collection of stories about people living amid addiction, crime, and instability. His Vietnam War novel “Tree of Smoke,” which examines espionage and cycles of violence, won the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In works including the posthumously published “The Largesse of the Sea Maiden,” Johnson portrayed people confronting war, addiction, loneliness, and death, as well as unexpected moments of grace within damaged lives.
