Essays in this collection have been recently and prominently published: Still God Helps You: Memories of a Sudanese Child Slave, first published in Wilson Quarterly (2013), was a Byliner exclusive, recognized by The Atlantic as one of the year’s Fantastic Pieces of Journalism, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Circle of Friends was published in Amtrak’s Arrive magazine (July/August 2014). A Solemn Pleasure appeared in the David Shields/Bradford Morrow anthology The Inevitable: Contemporary Writers Confront Death. Finding Ashton and an excerpt from Doxology appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine.

Melissa Pritchard is a prolific writer whose fiction and nonfiction has been anthologized in over fifteen books and appeared in over sixty literary journals. She is also an award-winning teacher of creative writing at Arizona State University, and has amassed a devoted following among her students.

Pritchard’s extraordinary storytelling skills, developed as a fiction writer, lend themselves perfectly to conveying the stories of her travels, spiritual pursuits, historical research, and empathy for the people who have crossed her path.

Inaugural book in Bellevue Literary Press’ new The Art of the Essay series, with a Foreword by bestselling novelist and Harvard University Director of Creative Writing Bret Anthony Johnston.