© 1992 Anna Dollard
© 1992 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
By Anna Dollard
(Courtesy Of ‘Australian Bookseller & Publisher’)
Religious publishing in Australia is experiencing something of a boom. More and more readers are turning to religious titles and an increasing number of religious books are breaking through the specialist barrier and appearing in general book stores — not only in the religious section at the back of the shop. Browse through the biography, issues, belief and even teenage fiction categories of a general book store and you are more likely than ever before to turn up a religious title.
The breakthrough, say religious publishers, is a result of a greater openness in the community about religion and spirituality. “All the old idols have been shattered, and traditional beliefs turned upside down”, says Albatross Publishers Director John Waterhouse. “Paradoxically that has meant a greater openness to ideas and alternative ways of thinking”. John says the past 12 months have seen a significant growth in demand for original, Australian books on religion, with readers having at least wearied of what he describes as mediocre and bland titles which “rehash the same issues with little sparkle or originality”.
The growing demand for Australian over imported titles was repeated time and time again to A B & P. Chris Pfeiffer, Marketing Manager at Lutheran Publishing House, says the latest bestseller list from the US covering religious titles made him feel “very sad”. “Apart from evergreens, C S Lewis’ ‘Mere Christianity’ and Granger Westburg’s ‘Good Grief’, the rest of the list is pretty listless. It’s all pap”.
John Waterhouse says Australia’s growing sense of national identity has contributed to the move away from imported religious writings, from both the US and UK. “As Australian society diverges from Anglo-Saxon-based culture there is a loss of market for overseas books. English books are becoming too culturally specific with many of the biographies and fiction works not relevant to Australia.” While Albatross distributes U.K.-based Lion books, it has retained its market here by offering religious reference works specifically aimed at the international market. The US, according to John, throws up a different problem with reliance on ‘celebrity authors’ — big names in the US who may be preachers or TV evangelists “authors with reputations who are drained and dried out writing on issues that are simply not where we are at”.
Cathy Jenkins, the religious publisher at Collins Dove says she is amazed at the general popularity of Carolyn Jones’ ‘Search for Meaning’ volumes and Michael Leunig’s little books of prayer, ‘A Common Prayer’ and ‘Prayer Tree’. “People are now prepared to admit they are searching for something” says Cathy. “It also has to do with the economy. When people fall on hard times they tend to think more deeply on key questions of life. In the past, general stores only carried the odd illustrated Bible, the type you’d find in dentists’ waiting rooms. Now you’re seeing many more self-help and religious books.” Changing patterns in education, with more people completing tertiary studies, has also contributed to the demand for religious writing, says Cathy. “religion, generally, interests thinking people. There are now wide avenues for people who want to read. Whereas in the past they may have read a novel, now they are turning to other thinkers, reading about their life journey.”
According to E J Dwyers Editorial manager, Catherine Hammond, the type of religious books being sought out by the general trade overlap between New Age and the spiritual. Referring to this market as the ‘newer seekers’ Catherine notes that this growing market has come in addition to, and not at the expense of, the traditional market. “There is a polarity with the New Age or newer-seekers on the one hand and the traditionalists on the other. In every church there are the two groups. It’s no longer the traditional Protestant and Catholic concerns of the past. We now have the forward thinkers and the more traditional thinkers. It cuts right across the old dividing lines.”
E J Dwyer continues to publish traditional Catholic works, including texts used in the Mass, alongside of its ‘New Age’ titles. “There is now such a spectrum in the Church that the two polarities are not affected by the other. That gives more scope to religious publishing. There is a feeling of being unencumbered. We haven’t lost the old market while we have gained a large share of a new one. It’s a great time for religious publishing.”
E J Dwyer has benefitted from the ‘blossoming phenomenon’ of general readers seeking scripture writings that once would have been published with only a traditional Bible study group in mind. One of its recent releases, ‘Introducing Contemporary Theologies’, by Neil Omerod, a lecturer in theology at St. Paul’s seminary, is one title to have attracted both general readers and serious students of theology. On the flip side, religious publishing is also seeing respected theologians tackling issues in a way that is accessible to lay people. Dwyer’s ‘Making Australia’, by Marist priest John Thornhill, is another such book. His writings on the spiritual aspects of Australian life and where religion fits in explores Australian attitudes in general, including the tall-poppy syndrome and why Australians hesitate to be overtly religious.
Perhaps the biggest religious title to cross over into mainstream literature this year will be ‘Jesus The Man’ by Dr Barbara Thiering, published by Transworld who has already sold the rights to the book in the US, UK and Canada. The controversial book based on the Dead Sea Scrolls, will also be serialised in a major newspaper and national colour magazine.