Zaleski, Philip 1948–

PERSONAL: Born September 29, 1948, in Waukegan, IL; son of Thaddeus (in business) and Jean (a painter) Zaleski; married Carol Goldsmith, June 13, 1975; children: John, Andrew. Education: Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, B.A., 1970. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—Northampton, MA. Office—Smith College, 138 Elm St., Northampton, MA 01063. Agent—Kim Witherspoon, Inkwell Management, 521 5th Ave., 26th Fl., New York, NY 10175. E-mail—pzaleski@smith.edu.

CAREER: Tufts University, Medford, MA, lecturer in English, 1985–89; Smith College, Northampton, MA, lecturer in religion, 1989–2000, research associate, 2001–. Parabola, executive editor, 1984–85, senior editor, 1985–2005. Wesleyan University, visiting lecturer, 1990–97.

AWARDS, HONORS: Selection among best books of the year, Christian Science Monitor, and editor's choice selection, New York Times, both for Prayer: A History.

WRITINGS:

The Recollected Heart, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1995.

(With Paul Kaufman) Gifts of the Spirit, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

(Editor) The Best Spiritual Writing (annual anthology), HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1998–2002, published as The Best American Spiritual Writing, Houghton Mifflin (New York, NY), 2004–06.

(Editor, with wife Carol Zaleski) The Book of Heaven: An Anthology of Writings from Ancient to Modern Times, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

(With Carol Zaleski) Prayer: A History, Houghton Mifflin (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Reader's Digest, First Things, and New York Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Philip Zaleski told CA: "I have written extensively on religion, literature, and general cultural affairs. I am interested in time-honored spiritual values and beliefs and their place in the contemporary world.

"I started my career as a book reviewer for the Boston Phoenix, where I regularly wrote lengthy review-essays on subjects as diverse as baseball, politics, and science fiction. My work, which ranges from reflective essays to book reviews, has appeared in many national publications over the years.

"The Recollected Heart, my first book, is a general introduction to Christian spirituality and contemplative prayer, in the form of a three-day retreat based on Catholic Benedictine principles. Gifts of the Spirit sustains, in a more expansive key, this same interest in spiritual practice, by exploring the phases of the day (waking, eating, working, playing, sleeping, and so on) and the phases of a lifetime (birth, childhood, coming of age, marriage, old age, death) from the standpoint of the world's religions. Prayer: A History, co-written with my wife Carol, explores the spiritual, artistic, literary and social history of prayer around the world. The Book of Heaven and its companion, the forthcoming Book of Hell, both co-edited with Carol, are anthologies of literary and spiritual writings on these profoundly interesting realms.

"I am also the editor of The Best American Spiritual Writing books, an annual collection of poetry and prose on religious themes. This series is now approaching its twelfth year of publication.

"As indicated above, many of my works have been written or edited with my wife Carol, in a literary partnership that has brought both of us much joy. Our mutual aim is to demonstrate the incomparable beauty of religion and its cultural fruits, both in ages past and in the world today."