Colorado Springs, CO, | CHRISTIAN NEWS SERVICE | — Alive Communications Literary Agency has been selected to represent The Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust for the 
published and unpublished works of the late Henri J.M. Nouwen, announced Rick Christian, founder and president of Alive and its sister e-publishing company Bondfire Books. The Dutch-born Catholic priest was the world-renowned author of spirituality classics, including The Wounded Healer, Here and Now, The Inner Voice of Love, The Way of the Heart, and The Return of the Prodigal Son. His 40-plus books have sold millions of copies and been translated into 30 languages.
“As a long-time Nouwen reader, it was an extraordinary privilege to review the treasure trove of his unpublished materials archived in Toronto,” said Christian, noting that it was especially meaningful because it followed his trip to The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia where he spent hours contemplating Rembrandt’s monumental oil painting, ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son,’ which so inspired Nouwen’s writings.
“The volume and depth of Nouwen’s unreleased resources are breathtaking,” added Christian, who said that his collected letters, sermons, shorter works, video and audio recordings, will gradually be released in the coming years once publishers have been determined.
“The appointment of Alive was made after a request for proposals from literary agencies throughout Canada and the United States, followed by personal interviews,” said Sister Sue Mosteller of the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust, the entity that oversees the estate and managed the selection process of an agency relationship. “Henri’s writings continue to challenge readers with their wisdom and spiritual insight, and we look forward to promoting his living legacy for the next generation with the assistance of Alive.”
A former professor at the University of Notre Dame and both Yale and Harvard Divinity Schools, Nouwen earned a doctor in psychology and has the unique honor of being the most-read author among both Catholics and mainline Protestants, according to pulpitandpew.org. Themes in his writings include the spirituality of solitude, community and compassion, as well as unconditional love and forgiveness, peacemaking, and his struggle to reconcile his depression and priestly vows of celibacy with his Christian faith and desire for intimacy. Nouwen died in 1996 after serving ten years in Toronto as senior pastor of the L’Arche Daybreak, a community home for developmentally disabled adults and their caregivers.
