Lesley Hazleton
Lesley Hazleton (born 1945) is a British-American Jewish author whose work focuses on "the vast and volatile arena in which politics and religion intersect." Her latest book, Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto, published April 5, 2016, was starred and listed by Publishers Weekly as one of the most anticipated books of the spring.[1][2]
Hazleton previously reported from Jerusalem for Time, and has written on the Middle East for numerous publications including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Harper's, The Nation, and The New Republic.[3]
Born in England, she was based in Jerusalem from 1966 to 1979 and in New York City from 1979 to 1992, when she moved to a floating home in Seattle, originally to get her pilot's license, and became a U.S. citizen. She has two degrees in psychology (B.A. Manchester University, M.A. Hebrew University of Jerusalem).[4]
Hazleton has described herself as "a Jew who once seriously considered becoming a rabbi, a former convent schoolgirl who daydreamed about being a nun, an agnostic with a deep sense of religious mystery though no affinity for organized religion".[5] "Everything is paradox," she has said. "The danger is one-dimensional thinking".[6]
In April 2010, she launched The Accidental Theologist,[7] a blog casting "an agnostic eye on religion, politics, and existence."[8] In September 2011, she received The Stranger's Genius Award in Literature [9] and in fall 2012, she was the Inaugural Scholar-in-Residence at Town Hall Seattle.[10]
Contents
Speeches
TED.com has video of two of her talks:
TEDGlobal 2013: The Doubt Essential to Faith. Thumbnail: "When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Prophet Muhammad, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the Koran, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience became the bedrock of his belief. Hazleton calls for a new appreciation of doubt and questioning as the foundation of faith — and an end to fundamentalism of all kinds." [11]
TEDxRainier 2011: On Reading the Koran. Thumbnail: "Lesley Hazleton sat down one day to read the Koran. And what she found — as a non-Muslim, a self-identified "tourist" in the Islamic holy book — wasn't what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazleton shares the grace, flexibility and mystery she found, in this myth-debunking talk." [12]
Books
On Middle East culture, history, politics, and religion:
- Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto [13] April 2016
- The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad [14] (New York Times Editors' Choice)
- After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split [15] (Finalist: 2010 PEN-USA book award.)[16]
- Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen [17] (Finalist: 2008 Washington Book Award.)[18]
- Mary: A Flesh-and-Blood Biography [19] (Winner: 2005 Washington Book Award.)[20]
- Jerusalem, Jerusalem: A Memoir of War and Peace, Passion and Politics [21] (Winner: 1987 American Jewish Committee/Present Tense Book Award).[22]
- Where Mountains Roar: a Personal Report from the Sinai [23]
- Israeli Women: The Reality Behind the Myths [24]
Her other books include:
- England, Bloody England: An Expatriate's Return [25]
- Confessions of a Fast Woman [26]
- Driving to Detroit: An Automotive Odyssey [27]
References
- ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/69297-the-most-anticipated-books-of-spring-2016.html
- ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/9781594634130
- ↑ http://thefirstmuslim.com/?page_id=9
- ↑ "About the author." 'After the Prophet.' 2009.<http://www.aftertheprophet.com>
- ↑ Seattle Times 10/26/07
- ↑ Publishers Weekly 5/21/07
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The Accidental Theologist/Who Is the AT?<http://accidentaltheologist.com/about/>
- ↑ http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/lesley-hazleton/Content?oid=9936684
- ↑ http://townhallseattle.org/?s=Lesley+hazleton+&searchsubmit=Find
- ↑ http://www.ted.com/talks/lesley_hazleton_the_doubt_essential_to_faith.html
- ↑ http://www.ted.com/talks/lesley_hazelton_on_reading_the_koran.html
- ↑ http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318162/agnostic-by-lesley-hazleton/9781594634130/
- ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59448-728-6
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ PEN-USA<http://www.penusa.org/node/149>
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Seattle Public Library<http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_leaders_washingtoncenter_awardwinners>
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Seattle Public Library<http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_leaders_washingtoncenter_awardwinners>
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ New York Times<http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/11/books/awards-for-books-with-jewish-themes.html>
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