Joe Edd Morris

I was born in New Albany, Mississippi, up the street from Faulkner's birthplace, grew up in that town then off to Millsaps College, graduating with a degree in Philosophy and English. Next stop was the University of Edinburgh for a year, and then Emory University where I received a masters degree in Theology and engaged in work on a doctorate in theology. A few years later I received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Mississippi. Currently, I am a licensed psychologist and retired United Methodist minister. I write every day, rising early in the morning. The award winning novel, Land Where My Fathers Died, was published in 2002 followed by a non-fiction theological piece, Revival of the Gnostic Heresy: Fundamentalism (Palgrave-MacMillan),in 2008. Old Testament Stories: What Do They Say Today? and New Testament Stories: What Do They Say Today? were co-authored with Dr. Roy H. Ryan and have been best-sellers in their category. Ten Things I Wish Jesus Hadn't Said debuted in 2015 (Leafwood Press) followed by The Christian Right: Neither Christian Nor Right (2018, OmniScripture International Press) Next came a fictional work, The Prison (Black Rose Writing, 2020), which was awarded Best Fiction of 2020 by the Mississippi Library Association, an honor that had also been garnered in 2002 by its prequel, Land Where My Fathers Died. The novel Torched: Summer of ’64, a finalist for The Montaigne Medal, Hoffer Award and Maxie Awards, was published in 2020 and 2021, a banner year, saw publication of two novels--The Lost Page and its sequel, The Lost Gospel, (Black Rose Writing)--and a memoir of my mother entitled Josie (Liberation’s Publishing). Over the years, several short stories have been published in literary journals, one nominated for the Pushcart Prize. In addition to the love of writing, I enjoy gardening, reading, playing the piano and traveling. My wife, Sandi, and I have visited all continents, including Antarctica, the best of them all. More recently we have ventured to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Peru, Vietnam and Cambodia. Next up: Central Asia and the old silk roads. Favorite authors include, of course, Faulkner, followed by Hemingway, James Salter, Cormac McCarthy, Eudora Welty, Richard Ford, Michael Ondaatje, and Irwin Shaw. Currently I am writing a travel-ography entitled Where The Road Ends about travels above the Arctic Circle (I was a chaplain for a year on the DEWLine), the Amazons (lived briefly with a native tribe), The Galapagos, Scotland, Bhutan and other remote areas where roads end ... or are ending.