By VANESSA SMITH
Contributing Writer

Butman Professor of Religion and “New York Times” bestselling author Barabra Brown Taylor is launching her newest book, “Learning to Walk in the Dark,” through publisher HarperOne on April 8.
To commemorate the publication of Taylor’s thirteenth book, Piedmont is holding a reception and reading on April 9 in the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art from 5 to 7 p.m.
Copies of “Learning to Walk in the Dark’ will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
“The book is about redeeming darkness–the spiritual kind as well as the physical and emotional kinds,” said Taylor of her new publication. “When I started listening to how many people used the word darkness in a negative way without even thinking about what they were saying, I decided to investigate whether all of the things that I had been taught about darkness were true.”
Taylor said she hopes that readers will be encouraged to question what they’ve been taught about darkness.
“As frightening as darkness can sometimes be, it has beauty in it as well as danger, and mystery as well as shadows,” said Taylor.
“Learning to Walk in the Darkness” took Taylor a total of four years to write. During that time, she needed hours upon hours of silence to get the creative juices flowing.
“I have a little 12 by 12 foot writing cabin in the woods that does the trick. It has no plumbing or electricity, but it has lots of windows and all the silence a person could hope for” she said.
Taylor actively encourages others to try their hand at writing.
“Being a writer means writing every day, whether you feel like it or not, whether anyone will ever see what you write or not, whether the writing ever goes anywhere or not, because writing every day is how you learn to make words your best friends,” said Taylor.
Taylor added that reading is just as important, that she’s usually reading four books at once.
Her current reading list includes: “A Guide for the Perplexed” by Dara Horn, “A New New Testament” by Hal Taussig, “The Places That Scare You” by Pema Chodron, and “French Women Don’t Get Facelifts” by Mireille Guiliano.
Taylor has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Emory University, and a Master of Divinity from Yale University and has written and published 12 other books, including “New York Times” bestseller, “An Alter in the World.”
She is also known to establish strong connections with her students at Piedmont.
“I’ve taken two of her classes and plan on taking a third, mostly because her insights on things are always helpful, and in general, she’s just very easy and fun to talk to,” said junior theatre major Jacob McKee.
Students are encouraged to attend the event, get to know Taylor outside of the classroom environment and pick up a copy of her book for themselves.
The book is also available for preorder on many book sites including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.