Spiritual memoir will tell of faith, pilgrimages, mental health, 'life interrupted'

"They say you write from your own life and write what you know," says Susan Cushman.

Her first novel tells the story of a young girl escaping abuse in a religious cult, then finding herself enveloped in art. A short story tells the tale of a young girl at St. Jude who is healed by a weeping icon. Other works tell of mental health, adoption, caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's.

And her new book, "Pilgrim Interrupted," is filled with threads from her life that readers will experience throughout the 35 essays, three poems and five excerpts from her novels and short stories.

There's the story of her pilgrimage to the Island of Patmos, visiting the Cave of the Apocalypse where St. John was given the Book of Revelation and where Cushman's pilgrimage was "interrupted."

And there's the story of her journey into Eastern Orthodoxy, even learning to write "the lives of the saints in color" as she painted icons like those that appeared in her church, St. John Orthodox Church.

"Pilgrimages. Orthodoxy. Icons. Monasteries. It’s all in here," reads the back cover. "But so are stories about mental health, caregiving, death, family, and writing, including a section on 'place,' a key element in Southern literature. And how is Susan’s pilgrimage 'interrupted'? By life itself."

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Cushman grew up writing. She has a shoebox of letters she wrote in the 1950s and 1960s that she sent to her grandmother, telling her everything, "including things you would not tell your own mother," she said. The letters told of her first kiss, fights with her brother, and continued until she married.

“I write to understand my life and what has happened to me and for healing," Cushman said. "It’s very cathartic. Writing is very cathartic and I hope there’s an element of healing that goes throughout all my work as well.”

But it wasn't until 2007 that she started her blog "PEN and PALETTE," posts on which would become the basis for her memoir "Tangles and Plaques: A Mother and Daughter Face Alzheimer’s."

Married to an Orthodox priest, Cushman left the Presbyterian faith of her childhood for the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1987, the year before she moved to Memphis.

An entire section of "Pilgrim Interrupted" is about "Icons, Orthodoxy, and Spirituality."

Icons are religious works of art, often depicting Christ, Mary, saints and scenes from Scripture. They fill the walls and ceilings of Orthodox churches.

“Icons have been called the gospel in color. They of course serve especially in the past communities where people were not literate. Many of them tell the stories," Cushman said. "When I was studying it I found myself finding a whole new level of worship."

For years, Cushman wrote icons, teaching classes and even taking on commissions. She eventually retired from writing icons, focusing on writing with words full time starting in 2010.

It is an icon of Christ revealed through brushstrokes that is featured on the cover of "Pilgrim Interrupted."

Ultimately, her new book is "a personal memoir as well as a spiritual journey," Cushman said.

In it, she hopes people "can find a measure of healing and encouragement to have their own spiritual pilgrimage, whether it's physical or just reading and praying."

Launch at Novel Memphis

"Pilgrim Interrupted," a spiritual memoir, will be released Tuesday, June 7 with a launch at Novel Memphis at 6:00 p.m. Novel is located at 387 Perkins Extension, Memphis, 38117.

Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2799 or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Spiritual memoir will tell of faith, mental health, "life interrupted"