RESOURCES

Selected Spiritual Memoirs

• Barnes, Kim. In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country. New York: Anchor Books, 1997.
• Adiele, Faith. Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2005.
• Armstrong, Karen. The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness. New York: Anchor Books, 2005.
• Armstrong, Karen. Through the Narrow Gate: A Memoir of Spiritual Discovery. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005.
• Brown Taylor, Barbara. Learning to Walk in the Dark. New York: HarperOne, 2015.
• Brown Taylor, Barbara. Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2007.
• Buechner, Frederick. The Sacred Journey: A Memoir of Early Days. New York: HarperOne, 1991.
• Buechner, Frederick. Telling Secrets: A Memoir. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004.
• Cairns, Scott. Short Trip to the Edge: A Pilgrimage to Prayer. Orleans, MA: Paraclete Press, 2016.
• Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood. New York: Harper and Row, 1989.
• Dillard, Annie, and Cort Conley, eds. Modern American Memoirs. New York: Harper Perennial, 1996.
• Finneran, Kathleen. The Tender Land: A Family Love Story. Boston: Mariner, 2003.
• Gallagher, Nora. Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith. New York: Vintage Books, 1999.
• Haack, Margie L. The Exact Place: A Memoir. Murfreesboro, TN: Kalos Press, 2012.
• Haines, Amber C. Wild in the Hollow: On Chasing Desire and Finding the Broken Way Home. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2015.
• Kurs, Katherine. Searching for Your Soul: Writers of Many Faiths Share Their Personal Stories of Spiritual Discovery. New York: Schocken Books, 1999.
• Lamott, Anne. Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. New York: Anchor Books, 2000.
• L’Engle, Madeleine. The Crosswicks Journal: The Irrational Season, The Summer of the Great-Grandmother, and A Circle of Quiet. New York: Harper Collins, 1988.
• Lewis, C. S. Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life. New York: HarperOne, 2017.
• Lynch, Thomas. The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009.
• Mairs, Nancy. Ordinary Time: Cycles in Marriage, Faith, and Renewal. Boston: Beacon, 1993.
• Mandelker, Amy, and Elizabeth Powers, eds. Pilgrim Souls: An Anthology of Spiritual Autobiographies. New York: Touchstone, 1999.
• Manning, Brennan. All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2015.
• Manning, Martha. Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.
• Miller, Donald. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011.
• Norris, Kathleen. Dakota: A Spiritual Geography. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1993.
• Schwartz, Mimi. Good Neighbors, Bad Times: Echoes of My Father’s German Village. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2009.
• Winner, Lauren. Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis. New York: HarperOne, 2013.
• Zaleski, Philip, ed. The Best Spiritual Writing, annual series.

Selected Books on Writing

• Writer’s Market (annual reference guide) by Writer’s Digest Books
• Christian Writers’ Market Guide (annual reference guide) by Christian Writers Institute
• Allender, Dan B. To Be Told: God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook, 2006.
• Chandler McEntyre, Marilyn. Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009.
• Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2016.
• Hampl, Patricia, and Elaine Tyler May, eds. Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing a Life. St. Paul, MN: Borealis Books, 2011.
• Jacobs, Alan. Looking Before and After: Testimony and the Christian Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.
• Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor Books, 1995.
• L’Engle, Madeleine. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art. New York: Convergent Books, 2016.
• Lott, Bret. Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, On Being a Christian. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013.
• Marinella, Sandra. The Story You Need to Tell: Writing to Heal from Trauma, Illness, or Loss. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2017.
• Roorbach, Bill with Kristen Keckler. Writing Life Stories: How to Make Memories into Memoirs, Ideas into Essays and Life into Literature, 2nd ed. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 2008.
• Ryken, Leland. The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing. Colorado Springs: Shaw Books, 2002.
• Zinsser, William. Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.