Life Sentences

Whether from established authors or by writers new to fiction, the short stories in this volume explore life as change, using Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 as the lens. The writers come from different backgrounds, perspectives, and levels of familiarity with the short story, but what ties them together is a willingness to creatively explore the raw and more uncomfortable dimensions of life--big events and small happenings--all bound up by a recognition of the inevitability and (dis)comfort of change. Each writer has a story to tell, a creative and imaginative angle on life as it happens somewhere to someone. Life Sentences represents an experiment, a recognition of and confrontation with the depth of culture and culture's life maps, with the ways in which the joys and troubles of life are given meaning. This collection attempts to address these large (and small) challenges and dynamics of life without the jargon of the professional philosopher or theologian but with the more "earthy" language of popular culture: the short story.

Anthony B. Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. He is author or editor of nineteen books, including African American Humanist Principles (2004), Terror and Triumph (2003), and Life Sentences (Wipf & Stock, 2007).

Gregory M. T. Colleton is a screenwriter, actor, and director. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Colleton attended Macalester College and later joined the Teach for America program, where he taught composition, history, and violin to middle-school kids while spreading the gospel of Michael Jordan. He resides in Los Angeles but dreams of living back near the Windy City.