Dr. Joy Schroeder, professor of church history, just published “Voices Long Silenced: Women Biblical Interpreters through the Centuries.”
Covering 2,000 years of history, her book tells the stories of Jewish and Christian women who interpreted the Bible through their writing, art and music. Schroeder teaches undergraduate courses in the Department of Religion and Philosophy and graduate courses at Trinity Lutheran Seminary.
Schroeder’s co-author, Dr. Marion Ann Taylor, is professor of Old Testament at the University of Toronto. The two met in 2007 at a scholarly conference sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature.
Schroeder has always loved writing, ever since childhood. When Marion Taylor emailed her in 2016 suggesting a collaboration, Schroeder thought it would be a good match: “I am a historian who specializes in the early church, Middle Ages, and Reformation period. Marion is an expert in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We thought that our areas of expertise would complement one another.”
Schroeder and Taylor started their book in 2016. It took them more than five years to do the research and writing. They sent their book proposal to Westminster John Knox Press, a Presbyterian press.
Schroeder said, “They are church related, and they do a lot of work on progressive topics such as women’s issues and African American womanist theology. So, we thought that they would be a very good match because our book is about bringing the voices of women forward.”
The editor liked Schroeder and Taylor’s book proposal and offered them a contract.
Schroeder and Taylor originally titled the book “Breaking Silence,” but since ‘breaking silence’ has a #MeToo connotation; the publisher thought that “Voices Long Silenced” would be less confusing for potential readers.
One challenge to their collaboration was that the authors live in different countries. They saw each other once a year at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting and talked about the book there. Primarily, they communicated through email. They read each other’s drafts and made comments and revisions on one another’s work.
Schroeder has written four books before this. All of them are about how the Bible has been interpreted throughout history.
Schroeder’s biggest struggle writing “Voices Long Silenced” was finding time to research and write. She teaches full-time and serves on many university committees, but each week she looked at her schedule and found small blocks of time where she could make steady forward progress. She writes during the day rather than late at night. “I work better in the morning,” Schroeder stated. “I can also work well in the early afternoon if I’m well caffeinated.”
Schroeder has written four books before this. All of them are about how the Bible has been interpreted throughout history.
This is Schroeder’s first time co-authoring a book. She enjoyed the experience and said of her collaborator: “Marion is a friend and respected colleague. She’s a pioneer in the area of the history of women biblical interpreters. She likes to collaborate. Most of her books are co-authored or co-edited. We’ve only grown closer while writing this book.”
When asked if she could see herself co-authoring a book again, Schroeder said, “Possibly. I’m working on two books right now that are single authored. But I could imagine working with Marion again because we’re still friends and she’s amazing. In terms of someone else, it would depend on the person.”
Schroeder’s book has already received lots of interest from religious scholars and ministers. Schroeder shared that she “[doesn’t] like being the center of attention, so this is very different for me. Since I’ve done more promoting of the book through Facebook and my networks, it’s gotten more attention than my other books. People who have written the endorsements are famous scholars in their fields. The publisher reached out to them and it’s amazing that they wrote such positive things.”
Schroeder says that social media significantly helped her promote her book. Since she needed help with social media, she reached out to Capital Visions, the student PR club also known as “The Firm,” at the recommendation of her department chair.
“Because I am working on books that will be out a few years from now, I expect my social media presence to grow even more.”
Whenever a Capital University faculty or staff member publishes a book, the Provost’s office sponsors a lecture and book signing.
On Thursday, March 17, at 4 p.m. Schroeder will talk about her book and how she started the writing process. There will also be time for Q&A. The event will be held in the Ruff Learning Center, room 202.
Books will be available for purchase and signing. People can also order the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or through the publisher’s website at wjkbooks.com.
