Novel Adventures

This series is written to be accessible to non-specialist audiences. These books will be able to be used in faith communities, in undergraduate classrooms, and in graduate programs as case-studies of theopoetics-in-action. Broadly speaking, the way that the project is envisioned is that books in the series will feature significant contributions from folks who primarily identify themselves as practitioners of the common good (sculptors, musicians, social workers, clergy people, electricians, etc.) and folks who identify themselves as academics. We recognize that some practitioners are also powerful scholars and some academics have devoted practices that guide them. Don’t let this categorization be an obstacle to reaching out. The thing to emphasize is that we want each of these books to capture true dialogue and mutual learning. When we have authors who are writing as a group, we are very open to creative proposals as long as the writing team shows cross-disciplinary focus and is exploring a question in a collaborative way. Essentially, we hope that each volume will reflect an embodied inquiry, with the author or authors of a given book exploring a common question from a “novel” perspective unique to them and the expertise they bring to the table.

There are multiple ways in which a proposal might be designed and we encourage creative interpretations of the call. We have also included some sketches of imagined proposals below for inspiration. Pieces of any of these sketches could be removed and combined with other ideas, or added to things that are not on the list at all. They are not to be taken as the only possible models, merely as possible examples of the kind of work we hope might be possible.

• A community leader who is a spoken word artist collaborates with a theologian who specializes in trauma and spirituality. They explore a specific project that the artist is developing where community members are coached and eventually perform narratives of change after trauma. The first chapter is written by the community leader broadly describing their work and their community context. The second is from the theologian describing their area of expertise and how they see its relevance to the work of the leader. The third is an edited transcription of an actual dialogue that took place between the two, with each trying to hear and learn from the other’s wisdom. The fourth is a description of the community member performance including some of the written pieces that people have allowed to be included in the book. The final chapter is co-written and points to areas where future collaboration might be possible.
• A process philosopher of religion collaborates with a filmmaker to create and write and create a film short in the genre of Afrofuturism. A link to the film is included in the text and readers are encouraged to watch it first. An interview with the filmmaker about their work is developed into a chapter about their inspirations and what making the piece meant to them and was intended to accomplish. Another chapter is written by the philosopher about themes in the work that relate to Black liberation and technological freedom. They each read each other’s work and write a series of short essays in responsive dialogue form, with one writing an essay and sending it to the other and the other writing a similarly short essay in response. These essays are edited and included as a chapter.
• A key player in a social justice efforts around LGBTQIA issues reflects on their experiences writes about how the struggle is not religious because it embodies many of the values articulated in confessional religions, but is religious because distinct values are developed in the work of making a more just and equitable world for those who do not identity as heterosexual. The book is a mix of poetry, storytelling, and short essays with a 6-song musical EP from a progressive rock band.