For the 2021 Pitts Summer Reading Blog, Pitts took to the hallways of the Candler School of Theology building in search of “the best resource you discovered during quarantine.” This week, the fourth in our series, we spoke to Dr. Greg C. Ellison, II, Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Candler.  Dr. Ellison is the editor of the recently-released Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet (Westminster/John Knox, 2020). The book is available online to Emory patrons. 

When asked about what reading has been important to him during the pandemic, Dr. Ellison writes, “One of the greatest finds over the past 24 months has been the works of Zimbabwean poet and fellow Atlantan Billy Chapata. I have gifted over a dozen copies of his book Chameleon Aura.” Ellison summarizes, “Chapata is like a modern day desert father and will be a healing presence to all who sit with his timeless words.” You can learn about Chapata and experience some of this poetry at https://www.iambrillyant.com or on Chapata’s Twitter feed. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Ellison has continued to learn from Chapata. He adds, “I recently was gifted a copy of his newest book, Flowers on the Moon. It is phenomenal!” 

We thank Dr. Ellison for these recommendations, and we hope you will look into the exciting work he is doing at Candler and at Emory. Recently he played a leading role on Emory’s Task Force on Untold Stories and Disenfranchised Populations. The work of that task force has prompted many changes at Emory, recently announced by Emory’s President Gregory L. Fenves.

We hope you enjoyed this week’s recommendations. Check in next week for more of our favorite resources! Looking for more recommendations? All summer reading blog posts are archived at pitts.emory.edu/blog.