Voices and Echoes: Canadian Women's Spirituality (Studies in Women and Religion)

Rating:
Summary: "Voices and Echoes" is deep and resonant.
Review: As the author of one of the stories (Journey into the Vortex) in this anthology of fiction by Canadian women, with scholarly articles on each story by prestigious Canadian academics, I cannot claim complete objectivity in this review. However, I can honestly say that contributing to this book on women's spirituality has been one of the most creative and uplifting experiences in my life as a writer.

The book had the usual gestation period that good books have, especially those involving several editors, several story-tellers, several poets and an equivalent number of scholars. However, as attested by Jo-Ann Elder in her foreword to the section "Voices": "This project combined life and art in mysterious ways" and here Elder is referring to the passing away of her parents and giving birth to two sets of twins in the intervening years, which did not stop her from producing this fine book. Every year Elder would ask contributors to hang in there, while expressing understanding if they felt like taking their stories elsewhere. I, for one, hung in there, because the idea of writing a spiritual story and having it commented on by a religious studies scholar in another part of the country was very appealing. I'm grateful to Elder for kindly stating in her foreword: "I will not deny the pleasure that Maya Khankhoje's story gave me, from the first time I read it. Whether they come from a Native woman -- in both senses of the word -- of another country, like Maya,..." There is a wealth of impressions and insights in Elder's foreword, just as there is serious scholarship and analysis in O'Connell's Further Foreword to the section "Echoes".

There are thirty-three pieces in this collection and each one, be it a poem or short story, is accompanied by an article putting the piece in a cultural, historical and spiritual context. The authors of the creative pieces are all women, whereas the scholars are both men and women and they come from different parts of Canada and from different spiritual, cultural and religious traditions. Some are experienced writers like Lorna Crozier, Di Brandt and Ann Copeland and some are fresh new voices, but their stories are all about the quest for meaning and spirituality in their lives.

This book will appeal to both men and women who simply enjoy good fiction as well as to the scholar who wishes to gain an insight into modern women's spirituality. I need say no more. Take the time to listen to these women's voices for they will resonate in your heart.