From the September 2012 magazine: “Pure Fiction”

Mystery, suspense, science fiction — Susan Dunlap, Cary Groner, and Kim Stanley Robinson are three Buddhist-inspired novelists who make up stories to tell the truth about our world. Andrea Miller profiles them in "Pure Fiction," from the September 2012 magazine, and the entire article is now online here.

Buddhist fiction, Miller explains, "is a slippery fish to define. Some would say it's composed solely of stories written by Buddhists and/or stories that feature Buddhist characters. Others would expand the definition to include stories written by non-Buddhist authors about non-Buddhist characters, as long as the writing reflects a Buddhist sensibility in addressing themes such as suffering, compassion, and emptiness. The Buddhist canon becomes very large indeed, however, if we go with the more liberal definition. Novelists—Buddhist and otherwise—are interested in the human condition. And since Buddhist rests on a foundation of universal human truths, it's common for writers of all faiths and traditions to express some Buddhist ideas in their work, even if they are unschooled in Buddhist. As Charles Johnson wrote in his foreword to Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction, 'The Buddhist experience is simply the human experience.' Nonetheless, novelists who have studied or practiced Buddhist tend to offer a refreshing perspective by consciously weaving the dharma into their stories."

You can read the rest of "Pure Fiction" online here. And to see what else is in the September magazine, click here.

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