Image: Given how important memoir has been in your life, I find it interesting that you seemed to fall into the genre. What accounts for your decades-long fascination?

Richard Lischer: Most memoirists write at an inflection point in their lives—which is, of course, a remembered inflection point—from which they date some new understanding of themselves. The poet and preacher John Donne pointedly wrote, “I date my life from my ministry.” I completed two memoirs about my own inflection points before developing a scholarly interest in the genre. I had no institutional purpose in writing them other than the need to tell—nothing to defend, no axe to grind, no score to settle.

In his most recent book, “Our Hearts Are Restless: The Art of Spiritual Memoir,” Lischer engages with 21 writers of spiritual memoirs and autobiographies. They range from classics in the genre, such as Augustine, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, to James Baldwin, Emily Dickinson and Richard Rodriguez.

An academic and a preacher, Lischer spent his career at Duke Divinity School, where his work included teaching a course called “The Life of Faith” to divinity students and, on occasion, to prison inmates. He is the author or editor of 15 books, including the recently re-released “The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America.”

He spoke with Faith & Leadership’s Sally Hicks about the art of spiritual memoir and his own writing practice.

For The National Book Review, Barbara Mahany, author of several spiritual memoirs, spoke with Lischer about his new book, likening their conversation to “that long-awaited cross-campus stroll after class had ended, and the beloved professor, as always, offered more time and undivided attention.” In his powerful new book, Lischer engages on the page with more than 20 spiritual memoirs across the centuries.

On Monday, January 17th, 2022, we celebrate the 93rd birthday of The Preacher King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. What made Dr. King who he is as a preacher? What are some insights on who Dr. King is as a prophet?

In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with Dr. Richard Lischer, author of The Preacher King. They discuss the legacy of Dr. King, how he mobilized people to address tough problems, his preachings, and important moments in his life as a prophet. Listen in for the full conversation.