Julia (Mori) Keller ’91 has published two books with Saint Mary’s Press. Her most recent is Seeking: Doing Theology With Girls ($24.95, 2003), which was co-authored with Janet Claussen. She is also the author of Retreats: Deepening the Spirituality of Girls ($24.95, 2002). Both books are part of the Saint Mary’s Press Voices Series, which aims to nurture the spirituality of girls. Series topics include media awareness, conversion, rites of passage, sexuality, and female role models.
Keller, who earned her master’s degree from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, says her books were born of necessity when she was teaching at Holy Names High School in Oakland, an all-girls school. “I was teaching a mandatory class for all of the seniors on Women’s Spirituality,” she explains. “I found it very frustrating because all of the literature was written for graduate students—it was too far beyond teenagers, and not real-life for them.”
When she contacted Saint Mary’s Press and they had no resources, they asked if she might be willing to write something. The Voices series was born, and it includes six titles. In addition to her role as a series author, Keller served as a member of the steering committee. For more information, see www.smp.org.