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Essays/Spirituality
March 2001
152 pages
ISBN 0-88984-221-1
$17.95
Holy Writ
K.D. MillerHoly Writ is not `chicken soup for the writer's soul'. It isn't
a guide for getting in touch with your inner Nobel prize winner either,
or a twelve-step program for recovery from writer's block. Holy
Writ is one author's examination of the creative and spiritual sides
of her life. Often hilarious, always unorthodox, K.D. Miller's reflections
on writing as a form of worship, selfishness as a virtue and church-going
as a necessary evil, will delight believer and skeptic alike. In several
of the essays, she is joined by colleagues from the writing community --
practising Catholic Philip Marchand, one-time Quaker Elizabeth Hay and
atheist Russell Smith among them.
`Miller's candid, witty style resembles Anne Lamott's, without the
self-conscious quirkiness. She looks at such Biblical figures as Martha
and Pontius Pilate with a novelist's discerning eye for character - and
with enlightening results. Who knows: since Miller came out of the
spiritual closet, perhaps other authors will folow. Holy Writ will no
doubt inspire and affirm those who wrestle (in secret) with angels
rather than devils.' Kathy Shaidle, Quill & Quire
`K.D. Miller's Holy Writ is a sequence of concise, luminous epiphanies
that charm and enliven the human spirit. The cumulative effect is surprising:
it's as if a representative of our own metaphysical restlessness had charted
a passageway through the perilous territory of doubt and insecurity.' --
John Fraser, Master of Massey College and author of Eminent Canadians
`I suffered a severe case of ``writer's envy'' as I read Miller's
book. To say that she is refreshing, original, or direct are all
understatements. Miller's spiritual integrity cuts through pious
platitudes and quick-fix faith fluff like an icebreaker on a
long-lost frozen ocean called religion.
`This is a book for the seeker/writer who lives in all of us,
a collection of Miller's essays and work from authors who are not,
as one chapter title puts it, ``Coward souls.'' They believe and do not
believe with a passion that gives us new creation from what was once
dust and destruction.
`In her opening piece Miller names writing as her ``Morning Prayer.''
And lest you start to drift off into bliss land, let me ground you
with her words: ``Writing stories is the way I pray ... to search
for the right word is to search for the word that tells the truth.''
Later she writes: ``Prayer, whatever form it takes, is not Prozac.
And I know I'm doing my best work when what appears on the page scares
the hell out of me.''
`If you are looking for a nice feel-good, means-well book this
summer to keep you from the deep water, this is not it. If, however,
you are looking and longing for something from someone who is not
afraid to get real about religion, faith and things spiritual, then
I dare you to do the deep waters with these writers.
Holy Writ is not ``an ad for Jesus,'' nor it is a self-help,
writer's manual. What it is, I think, is an invitation to face
questions like ``What does popularity have to do with the love of God?''
Enjoy is probably not the right word to bring you to this book, but
then again, if you enjoy the wonder, risk and curiosity of an
intimate faith, this book will set your words free to become holy writ.'
Karen E. Toole, The United Church Observer, July/August 2001
