Robert Hudson

In third grade Bob knew that books would be his life—reading them, writing them, and making them. He studied literature and languages, eventually earning a master’s degree in comparative literature. He has been a teacher, a book-store clerk, a journal editor, a translator, a book designer, a proofreader, a small-press publisher, a writer, and he has certificates in bookbinding and hand printing. For thirty-four years, he worked as an editor for Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins. He is a member of the West Michigan Thomas Merton Society, the International Dante Society, and the Traherne Association, and he serves on the board of the Calvin College Center for Faith and Writing.

He is the author of The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style: 4th Edition—a volume that has become a standard reference in Christian publishing. His first volume of poetry, Kiss the Earth When You Pray, was published in 2016. His articles and poetry have appeared in Christianity Today, The Other Side, The Mennonite, The Seneca Review, Mars Hill Review, and other magazines and journals. For four years he blogged for WorkingPOET.com and edited their online newsletter.

Bob and his wife, Shelley, play fiddle and banjo, respectively, in an old-time Southern string band called Gooder’n Grits. They play for barn dances and festivals throughout West Michigan. They also operate the Perkipery Press, a small chapbook publisher. They have three daughters: Abbie, Molly, and Lili.