Complete Vitae
Daniel William Taylor
PERSONAL DATA
Born: 1948; Escondido, California
Marital status: Married, four adult children
EDUCATiON
B.A., Westmont College, Santa Barbara, Ca., 1970 (English)
M.A., Emory University, 1974 (English)
Ph.D., Emory University, 1974 (English)
Dissertation topic: Vorticism, Ezra Pound, Wyndham Lewis, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
Title: “The Great London Vortex: Art as Patterned Energy”
EMPLOYMENT
Writer, editor
Bethel University, Saint Paul, Minn., 1977-2010.
Professor of English
Tyndale House Publishers, 1992-2002
Stylist for The New Living Translation of the Bible
Westmont College, Santa Barbara, Ca., 1976 (fall)
Northwestern College, Saint Paul, Minn., 1974-76
AWARDS and GRANTS
Christianity Today 2018 Award of Merit: Fiction, for Do We Not Bleed?
Christianity Today 2016 Book Award: Fiction and 2016 Illumination Award: Fiction (Independent Publisher), for Death Comes for the Deconstructionist.
In Search of Sacred Places, Honorable Mention, 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards (Travel Essay category)
“Monastery in the Sky” (nonfiction) chosen for Best Christian Writing 2006.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006
Bethel University Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2002-03
“Jeremiah’s Lament” (short fiction) chosen for the 20th Anniversary Anthology of the best of The Cream City Review (U. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), 20.1&2 (1997)
United States Department of Education grant, 1982-83
(distributed through “Creating Connections,” a Wichita State program to foster interdisciplinary teaching)
Woodrow Wilson Award, 1970
Marshall Fellowship for Study in Great Britain, 1970 — Alternate
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Books
Non-fiction
The Skeptical Believer: Telling Stories to Your Inner Atheist.
Saint Paul: Bog Walk Press, 2013.
Creating a Spiritual Legacy: Sharing Your Stories, Values, and Wisdom.
Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2011.
The Expanded Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009, 2011. A reference work created with Tremper Longman and Mark Strauss.
In Search of Sacred Places: Looking for Wisdom on Celtic Holy Island.
Saint Paul: Bog Walk Press, 2005.
Is God Intolerant?: A Christian Response to the Call for Tolerance.
Wheaton, Il.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003.
Before Their Time: Lessons in Living from Those Born Too Soon.
Co-authored, Dr. Ronald Hoekstra, M.D.
Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 2000.
Tell Me a Story: The Life-Shaping Power of Our Stories.
Bog Walk Press.
(Previously published as The Healing Power of Stories. New York: Doubleday, 1996.)
Letters to My Children: A Father Passes on His Values.
Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 1989.
Reprinted by Bog Walk Press.
The Myth of Certainty: The Reflective Christian and the Risk of Commitment.
Waco, Tx.: Word, 1986. Re-issued by InterVarsity Press, 1999.
The Treasury of Christian Poetry.
Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1982. Coeditor.
Fiction
The Mystery of Iniquity
Novel. Slant, 2022
Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
Novel. Slant (imprint of Wipf and Stock), 2020
Do We Not Bleed?
Novel. Slant (imprint of Wipf and Stock), 2017
Death Comes for the Deconstructionist.
Novel. Slant (imprint of Wipf & Stock), 2014.
Short Stories
“Night Riding on the N29.”
Ploughshares (Oct. 2024)
“Soap.”
Windhover (Mary Hardin Baylor U.) 16 (Spring 2012).
“Deconstruct This.”
Mars Hill Review. 1.2 (Spring 1995).
“Jeremiah’s Lament.”
The Cream City Review. (U. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee)16.1 (Spring 1992): 57-67. Chosen for the 20th Anniversary Anthology of the best of The Cream City Review. 20.1&2 (1997).
“Chicken Man.”
The Northcote Anthology of Short Stories.
Wheaton, Il.: Harold Shaw, 1992. 179-87.
The Myth of Certainty, cited above, includes short fiction.
Creative non-fiction
“I Tell My Mother Lies.”
Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion (Winter 2009-2010, number 64).
“Monastery in the Sky.” Books and Culture (March/April 2005). Book excerpt.
“A Tribute to a Gentle Man.” Mars Hill Review (Spring 1996). Book excerpt.
Selected articles, essays and monographs
“The Desert Gods at the Twin Towers” (Richard Rodriquez).
Books and Culture (Mar/Apr 2014)
“Castle Wanted: A Sumptuous History of the English Castle.”
Books and Culture (Nov/Dec 2012)
“Modernists Abroad: Ezra Pound, E. E. Cummings, Wyndham Lewis, Rebecca West.”
Books and Culture (Nov/Dec 2011)
“Rest for the Weary” (T.S. Eliot).
Books and Culture (Jan/Feb 2009).
“How to Pick a President: Why Virtue Is More Important than Policies.”
Co-authored, Mark McCloskey.
Christianity Today (June 2008).
“Living With a Big Poem: Reflections on The Waste Land.”
Books and Culture (Sept/Oct 2005).
“Soul Friends: A Community of Kindred Spirits.”
Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion (Spring 2003).
“In Praise of Stories,” in Leland Ryken, ed. The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing.
Colorado Springs, Col.: WaterBrook Press, 2002.
“The Last Medieval Man” (Thomas More).
Books and Culture (May/June 2001).
“Deconstructing the Gospel of Tolerance.”
Christianity Today (11 January 1999).
“Celebration: A Fine Excess.”
The Standard (Dec 1997).
"The Private Gospel of Reynolds Price."
Books and Culture (Sept/Oct 1996).
“In Pursuit of Character: Scripting our Lives from the Stories We Choose.”
Christianity Today (11 Dec. 1995).
“Confessions of a Bible Translator.”
Books and Culture (Nov/Dec 1995).
“The Ethical Implications Of Storytelling.”
Mars Hill Review (Fall 1995).
“Christian Humanism at the End of the Twentieth Century,” in Memoriae Vis: Essays in Celebration of Arthur R. Evans. eds. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis and Erdmann Waniek.
Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993. 340-47.
“The Physics of Faith.”
Focus. 45.1 (Spring 1993).
“T.S. Eliot,” in Cyclopedia of World Authors, II.
Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1989.
“Pascal,” in Great Lives from History: Renaissance to 1900.
Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1989.
“Thomas Was a Disciple, Too.”
Moody Monthly (May 1989).
“Wyndham Lewis,” in Research Guide to Biography and Criticism. ed. Walter Beacham.
Washington, D.C.: Scholar's Press, 1985.
“Lady Gregory,” in Critical Survey of Drama.
Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1985.
“The Fear of Insignificance.”
Christianity Today (Feb 1989).
“Alpha and Omega.”
Moody Monthly (Jan. 1988).
“Reading for Survival.”
The Wittenburg Door (Nov 1982).
Cynicism.
Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 1982. A monograph.
“Literature of the Oppressed: The Use of History and Ethics in the Teaching of Literature.”
Minnesota English Journal 12.1 (1981): 42-46.
At one time a regular contributor to various projects of Salem Press (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), including 20 article-length book reviews for Magill's Literary Annual.
Co-founder and co-editor
Literature of the Oppressed — a journal. 1987-1993.
Other
Commentary provided for Revelation 1-5 of Quest Bible.
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994.
Reprints of some of the above articles and of excerpts from books have appeared in various publications.
SELECTED PAPERS AND TALKS PRESENTED AT ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES
“Testing the Virtues in Storytelling,” Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI. April 14, 2018.
“Didn’t Our Hearts Burn Within Us? The Use and Abuse of Emotion in Storytelling,” Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI. April 14, 2016. Also, “Writing About Friendship,” with Wesley Hill, April 15.
“The Use of Story in Popular Apologetics: Why it Works and How to Do It.”
Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI. April 10, 2014.
“I Tell My Mother Lies: Dealing with Pain and Painful People in Memoir.”
Writer’s Festival, U. of Mary Hardin Baylor, Belton, TX. Feb. 10, 2012.
“Defending the Faith: Writing Street-Level Apologetics for the Common Reader.”
Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI. April 17, 2010.
"Memoir and Master Stories.”
Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI. April 18, 2008.
“Living Inside a Metanarrative: Literary and Theological Implications for Accepting One’s Role in the Masterstory of Faith.”
Image Conference — A Narratable World: The Theological Implications of Story. Seattle Pacific University, Nov. 7, 2003.
“Telling Our Master Stories.”
StoryCon: Art, Science and the Application of Story. Palm Springs, CA. Sept. 27, 2002.
“The Joys and Risks of Doing Life Story Work.”
International Reminiscence and Life Review Conference 2001. Chicago. Oct.11, 2001.
“The Healing Power of Stories: The Role of Story in the Medical Relationship.”
The Annenberg Conference on Patient Safety. Saint Paul, MN. May 16, 2001.
“Contemporary Culture and the Christian Writer.”
The Lewis Event: A Conversation of Faith and the Arts. Hope College, Holland, MI. Jan. 14, 1999.
“Singing in Babylon: Contemporary Literature and Contemporary Christians.”
Out of the Christian Ghetto conference. Seattle, WA. Oct. 8, 1998. Repeated in New York City, May 22, 1999.
“An American in London: The Americanness of Ezra Pound.”
Symbiosis Conference. Plymouth, England. March 25, 1997.
“Finding a Plot to the Story of Your Life.”
Association of Christians in Student Development, Bethel College, Saint Paul, Mn., June 3, 1996.
"Living in Stories: The Life-Shaping Power of a Story." Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, April 12, 1996.
"Translator as Traitor: Issues for a Contemporary Bible Translation." Celebration of 500th Year Anniversary of William Tyndale, Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities, St. Thomas University, Oct. 21, 1994.
“Skeptics, Cynics and Overloaded Thinkers: The Character of Doubt and Doubters in the Christian College.” Association of Christians in Student Development, Huntington, IN, 1992.
“The Writer as Christian Humanist at the End of the Twentieth Century.”
Midwest Conference on Christianity and Literature, Milwaukee, Sept. 1989.
“Turning the Outside In: The Literature of the Oppressed.”
International Conference on The Outsider in Literature and the Visual Arts, Atlanta, Oct. 1988.
“The Literature of the Oppressed and the Healing of Contemporary Letters.”
Minnesota Conference of Teachers of English, Minneapolis, April 1986.
“Teaching the Literature of Oppressed Peoples.”
Minnesota Conference of Teachers of Teachers of English, Bemidji, Mn., April 1985.
“The Use of History and Ethics to Bring Literature to the Non-major.”
Minnesota Conference of Teachers of English, Minneapolis, April 1981.
SPEAKING
Frequent speaker on a wide range of topics at conferences, schools and colleges, retreats, and churches. Recent examples include speaking on the Christian artist in a secular culture at the Vermont Conference on Christianity and the Arts, on life writing in Greensburg Indiana, and on faith and doubt in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Other random examples include participating in the “Honest Questions” series hosted by Grace Covenant Church of Fargo (Oct. 2018), presenting on life writing at Northwest Iowa Legacy Partners, Sioux Center, IA (Sept 2017), speaking on “Virtue and Politics” at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church of Wayzata, MN (March 2016), speaking at WinterFest 2015, Orcas Island, WA (Feb 2015) and at the Virginia Book Festival, Charlottesville, VA (March 2015). Speaking at Grant Memorial Church (Winnipeg) in April 2013, the Saint Paul Prayer Breakfast in Nov. 2012, John Brown University in January 2014, (and April 2011), the Governors Conferences for Opportunity International in October 2009 (Chicago) and March 2010 (Phoenix), the Hagman Lectures at Salem Covenant Church in February 2010 (New Brighton, MN), at Seoul Foreign School in Korea in August 2009, at the Desiring God annual conference, Minneapolis (September 2008) and at the Buechner Institute at King College in Bristol, TN (October 2008). Has spoken at the following colleges and universities: Belmont University (TN), Bethel University (MN), Crown College (MN), Hope College (MI), Huntington College (IN), John Brown University (AR), King College (TN), Northwestern College (MN), Northwestern College (IA), Roberts Wesleyan College (NY), Westmont College (CA), including The Staley Lectures at Seattle Pacific University (1997) and Warner Pacific College (2000) and John Brown University (2014).
Regular participant and presenter at the Festival of Faith and Writing conference at Calvin College, April 1994 to present. Also speak at medical and memoir conferences.
WORK IN PROGRESS
The Docent of Leningrad. A novel.
MISCELLANEOUS
Member of the Advisory Board, The Buechner Institute, King College (TN), 2013-18.
Minor revision of The International Children’s Bible (Thomas Nelson), spring 2013.
Stylist for a revision of The New Century Version Bible (Thomas Nelson), 2004.
General Editor for Vital Questions book series for Tyndale House Publishers.
Co-founder of The Legacy Center, an organization devoted to preserving and passing on life stories and values.
Contributing Editor for Books and Culture: A Christian Review (1995-2016)
Conducted public interviews with Joyce Carol Oates (2004), Salman Rushdie (2006) and Edward P. Jones (2008) at the Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing.
Scholar-in-residence, Westmont College, fall 1999.
Taught “Creative Non-Fiction” course at the Milton Center’s Glen Eyrie Writer’s Conference, Colorado Springs, August 10-15, 1997.
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar, 1978. Led by RobertAdams at UCLA. Topic: “Studying Literature in Relation to the Other Arts.”
Teach courses in memoir writing and spiritual legacy in various venues.