Michael Kinnamon
Sometimes it is good to start at the end. Since beginning my new career as a novelist, I have published two works of literary fiction: Summer of Love and Evil (Publerati, 2021) and The Nominee (Chalice Stories, 2024). The former is a coming of age story, set in rural Iowa in 1967, just as corporate farming and drug use are starting to take a toll. The latter is a story of church leadership in an age of culture wars, raising issues that will be familiar to persons who have never set foot in a church.
Prior to becoming a novelist, I was a professor of theology for thirty years in seminaries and universities in the U.S. and India. My Ph.D. (University of Chicago, 1980) was in the field of Religion and Literature, and I used literary fiction extensively in my teaching of theology. So writing fiction in “retirement” feels like coming home! I also studied at the Tel Aviv University and have traveled extensively in the Middle East. My novel, A Rooftop in Jerusalem, a love story set against the backdrop of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is rooted in this experience. It is currently being considered for publication.
Before the novels, my writing (some twenty books) focused primarily on ecumenical and interfaith relations, emphasizing those aspects of religion that make it less divisive, and promoting collaborative work on behalf of human well-being. I was a theologian at the World Council of Churches in the early 1980s, and twenty-five years later was elected General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the USA, working along with interfaith leaders on such issues as health care, gun violence, immigration, poverty, and the environment. There’s no doubt that my work as a theologian informs my fiction. For example, Summer of Love and Evil tackles the issue of class prejudice in American society.
I am an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a liberal Protestant denomination. In 1991, I was the nominee to become General Minister and President of the Disciples, a nomination that was defeated in our general assembly because of my outspoken support for the full participation of LGBTQ persons in the membership and ministry of the church. My novel, The Nominee, draws inspiration from this experience.
My wife, Mardine Davis, and I live in beautiful San Diego, where I have season tickets to the Padres and we take full advantage of the city’s bountiful classical music offerings. Baseball and classical music find their way into my novels. Anna, my eldest daughter and mother of my three grandchildren, is Indian, born in an ashram in Mumbai. Younger daughter, Leah, is African American. I mention this because they continue to teach me a great deal about celebrating the astonishing diversity of our world. That, too, is a theme in my fiction.
Prior to becoming a novelist, I was a professor of theology for thirty years in seminaries and universities in the U.S. and India. My Ph.D. (University of Chicago, 1980) was in the field of Religion and Literature, and I used literary fiction extensively in my teaching of theology. So writing fiction in “retirement” feels like coming home! I also studied at the Tel Aviv University and have traveled extensively in the Middle East. My novel, A Rooftop in Jerusalem, a love story set against the backdrop of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is rooted in this experience. It is currently being considered for publication.
Before the novels, my writing (some twenty books) focused primarily on ecumenical and interfaith relations, emphasizing those aspects of religion that make it less divisive, and promoting collaborative work on behalf of human well-being. I was a theologian at the World Council of Churches in the early 1980s, and twenty-five years later was elected General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the USA, working along with interfaith leaders on such issues as health care, gun violence, immigration, poverty, and the environment. There’s no doubt that my work as a theologian informs my fiction. For example, Summer of Love and Evil tackles the issue of class prejudice in American society.
I am an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a liberal Protestant denomination. In 1991, I was the nominee to become General Minister and President of the Disciples, a nomination that was defeated in our general assembly because of my outspoken support for the full participation of LGBTQ persons in the membership and ministry of the church. My novel, The Nominee, draws inspiration from this experience.
My wife, Mardine Davis, and I live in beautiful San Diego, where I have season tickets to the Padres and we take full advantage of the city’s bountiful classical music offerings. Baseball and classical music find their way into my novels. Anna, my eldest daughter and mother of my three grandchildren, is Indian, born in an ashram in Mumbai. Younger daughter, Leah, is African American. I mention this because they continue to teach me a great deal about celebrating the astonishing diversity of our world. That, too, is a theme in my fiction.