Biography
Writer, teacher, and speaker with expertise in narrative, creative writing, film and other popular culture forms, religion and spirituality, and literature. Representative speaking topics include the afterlife in popular imagination, the spirituality of U2, religion and Harry Potter, religion and politics, the future of the Church, fiction and screenwriting, and movies and spirituality.
Greg is the author of twenty books, including novels, memoir, and nonfiction on religion, culture, and politics. He is Professor of English at Baylor University, where he has won three university-wide teaching awards. He has discussed his work for The New York Times, LA Times, Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, BBC Radio, BBC Scotland, The Bob Edwards Show, and many other print, broadcast, and web media. He also writes regularly for Patheos, the Huffington Post, Salon, OnFaith, and many other print and web publications.
Industry Expertise (3)
Writing and Editing
Religious Institutions
Entertainment
Areas of Expertise (3)
Fiction Writing
Screenwriting
Religion and Culture
Accomplishments (5)
Member, Texas Institute of Letters (professional)
2010-04-16
Elected to membership for my lifetime literary accomplishments.
Residential Scholar, Gladstone's Library, Hawarden, Wales (professional)
2010-06-10
Beginning in 2010, I've been regularly chosen as a Residential Scholar to live and work at the UK's only prime ministerial library.
Fellow, Cathedral College of Preachers, Washington National Cathedral (professional)
2008-10-09
Named a Fellow to the National Cathedral's College of Preachers to live and work on my book The Other Jesus
Publishers Weekly First Fiction Feature (professional)
2002-03-07
Publishers Weekly chose my novel Free Bird as one of a a dozen important fiction debuts for Spring, 2002, and profiled me in the magazine.
Pirate's Alley William Faulkner Prize for Fiction (professional)
1993-09-17
For a novella, Minuet
Education (2)
Oklahoma State University: PhD, English/Creative Writing/Film 1989
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest: MDiv, Theology/Culture/Preaching 2007
Affiliations (5)
- Baylor University
- Patheos
- Gladstone's Library
- Seminary of the Southwest
- St. David's Episcopal Church
Links (3)
Event Appearances (5)
One Fine Potion: Finding Augustine in the Literary Magic of Harry Potter
The Catholic Imagination in the Arts Lecture Villanova University
2012-03-13
The Other Jesus
The Otis Young Lecture on Religion and Ethics First/Plymouth Congregational Church, Lincoln, Nebraska
2011-11-17
The Deeper Meaning of Harry Potter
University Lecture Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas
2010-10-20
Engaging the World to Come
Deans and Rectors Workshop Consortium of Endowed Parishes, New Orleans, LA
2009-03-04
The Gospel according to U2
2010 Endowed Lecture Series University Christian Church, Austin, TX
2010-04-07
Sample Talks (1)
Finding the Spiritual in Popular Culture
What do great stories have to offer us besides entertainment? Can they really teach us about the great questions of who we are and what we're supposed to be doing? Through engagement with a single topic (the music of U2, the Harry Potter novels and films, superhero comics and movies, etc.) or with a wide range of cultural artifacts, I talk about the philosophical and spiritual themes to be found there that can enrich our lives and the lives of our communities.
Style
Availability
- Keynote
- Moderator
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Host/MC
- Author Appearance
- Corporate Training
Social