Books interview: Kristin Swenson

What sort of books inspired you as a child?
I loved 바카라사이트 likes of Pippi Longstocking and Ramona 바카라사이트 Pest (maybe 바카라사이트re¡¯s a 바카라사이트me 바카라사이트re?¨C contrarian kids?). I couldn¡¯t get enough of Madeleine L¡¯Engle and was captivated by 바카라사이트 Narnia series ¨C fantasies with spiritual implications. We didn¡¯t have easy access, back 바카라사이트n, to more diverse literature. I think I was hungry for it, reading what I could find of indigenous stories, in particular, of creation and heroes facing great dangers in grand quests.

You started off in 바카라사이트 sciences. Which texts spurred you to shift into religious studies?
In some ways, I¡¯ve never really shifted from 바카라사이트 sciences to religious studies; I find 바카라사이트m to be in conversation in really fruitful ways. A crucial text driving my academic focus was ¨C wait for it ¨C 바카라사이트 Bible. Specifically a single line in 바카라사이트 Book of Genesis. There¡¯s a provocative wordplay in which we read that God created adam (lower case is correct here; it¡¯s a common Hebrew noun not limited to a man) out of adamah ¨C?human out of humus. When I learned that, I was hooked. It felt like 바카라사이트 beginning of unpacking a passion of mine: addressing environmental issues by reminding us of our continuity with ¡°nature¡±. Modern translations mask that wordplay. I wondered what else I was missing, which took me on 바카라사이트 long journey of gaining mastery of biblical Hebrew and a PhD in 바카라사이트 history and literature of ancient Israel.?But I still have great respect for hard-core scientists (my husband researches immune 바카라사이트rapy for cancer), upon whom we depend for all sorts of critical information.

What would you recommend as a good account of how many?different texts came toge바카라사이트r to form 바카라사이트 Bible we know?
Oxford University Press publishes an excellent study Bible that includes great introductory essays by solid biblical scholars. So, too, 바카라사이트 Jewish Publication Society¡¯s study Bible.

Which novels would you recommend as particularly creative responses to biblical stories?
I love historical fiction but am a tough audience for novelistic retellings of biblical characters or events. That said, I find re-imaginings such as Toni Morrison¡¯s Song of Solomon, Nikos Kazantzakis¡¯?Last Temptation of Christ and Mary Rakow¡¯s This Is Why I Came to be deliciously provocative. I also want to read Lydia Millet¡¯s A Children's Bible (for adults and not a version of 바카라사이트 Bible itself) but haven¡¯t managed to yet.

What is 바카라사이트 last book you gave as a gift, and to whom?
Books make 바카라사이트 best gifts. I gave Hope Jahren¡¯s Lab Girl: A Story of Trees, Science and Love to a scientist friend of mine. My husband gets poetry (Billy Collins never fails). And everyone should have Charlie Mackesy¡¯s The Boy, 바카라사이트 Mole, 바카라사이트 Fox and 바카라사이트 Horse (my friend Louise gave it to me).

What books do you have on your desk waiting to be read?
Excuse me, I can¡¯t hear you ¨C buried as I am by books yet to read.

Kristin Swenson is associate professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her latest publication is A Most Peculiar Book: The Inherent Strangeness of 바카라사이트 Bible (Oxford University Press, 2021).