-Frederick Buechner and myself at The Buechner Institute at King College in Tennessee, January 2010-

There are many who could likely do a far better job addressing the whats and wherefores of Buechner’s (pronounced ‘beek-ner’) life than I. He is a minister, a novelist, an essayist and a poet. And yet there is so much more.

My desire to honor the work of Mr Buechner is simply to, hopefully, expose his work to a broader audience. He is an author unknown to the popular landscape and yet his work has won and been nominated for numerous accolades and prizes, most notably the Pulitzer.

But awards and commendations are less the issue to me than the depth of the work itself. Piercing and heartbreaking, Buechner’s writing extends itself beyond that of ‘religious’ or ‘Christian’ to something far deeper and more rich. His skill is in constructing words and phrases and sentences that ultimately reveal a humanness few authors have the capability of reaching.

My own life has been enriched by his work and I hope through this production and, if nothing else, through this website you are able to learn a little more about this son of laughter.

-Nathan Rouse
creator and developer of The Birth
Executive Director of Starving Artist Productions

Suggested Buechner Readings:
The Book of Bebb
Godric
The Magnificent Defeat
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons

Other Buechner Resources:
The Buechner Institute
Buechner at Wikipedia
Buechner – The Film