Introducing
Seven Stories
Seven Stories
Kevin Burns is Seven Stories, the company he launched in 1996.
Publishing: He is a writer, editor, and researcher with a focus on broad cultural and social issues. He has seen more than 300 books make their way into print in the commercial and academic publishing worlds, and has assisted many projects en route to the digital world. He has an extensive background in publishing, having developed and edited many non-fiction titles in theology, spirituality, religion, faith and culture, history, philosophy, memoir, and biography as the former commissioning editor at Novalis. Media: He draws on his experiences in the Canadian arts and cultural scene and from his work as the former producer of The Arts Report for CBC Radio. He continues to create documentaries for CBC Radio's Ideas. Collaboration: His documentary on Henri Nouwen, Genius Born of Anguish (co-authored with Michael W. Higgins and co-produced with Bernie Lucht) received the Gold Medal Award for Documentary at the 2013 New York Festivals. Volunteer engagement: Actively engaged in governance and volunteerism in the Canadian not-for-profit sector, he has served on the board of governors of St. Jerome's University, the Catholic university federated to the University of Waterloo. He was a long-time member of the advisory board for the Toronto-based Jesuit Communication Project and contributor to igNation.ca, the Canadian Jesuit blog. From 2016 to 2022 he was a member of the board of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). Author: In 2016, Franciscan Media released his biography, Henri Nouwen: His Life and Spirit, which was also released in a German edition by Adeo Verlag. In 2019, Paulist Press in the U.S. and Novalis in Canada released his co-authored book with Michael W. Higgins, Impressively Free. In the current crisis in the Catholic world concerning the formation and the role of the priest, this new book proposes the example of Henri Nouwen as a model for reform. Next: His personal works-in-progress include a co-authored memoir about neurology (awaiting responses from potential publisher) and a radio documentary for CBC Ideas that explores a starkly haunting event in the early 1600s that continues to have a powerful impact on Canada: Betrayal of Faith - The Tragic Journey of a Colonial Convert based on the book with the same title by University of Ottawa historian, Emma Anderson. CBC Radio One: IDEAS Wednesday, April 3: BETRAYAL OF FAITH At a glance, the story looks recent: an Indigenous child taken from his family and community, relocated far away where he's stripped of his culture and language, inculcated into an alien worldview, eventually fails to integrate yet unable to reintegrate back into his original community, develops an abusive relationship with alcohol and then dies tragically young. But this story happened 400 years ago: a young Innu boy was taken to France by Franciscans to learn Latin, French and theology while they were to learn his language and customs with the aim of converting his people and others. We know his name: Pastedechouan. And what we know of his story comes to us through records kept by the 17th century clerics who tried to make use of him, records scoured by University of Ottawa historian, Emma Anderson. Professor Anderson teamed up with contributing producer Kevin Burns to create this documentary that retraces the story of Pastedechouan, ultimately revealing that history has an extremely long reach: what happened to Pastedechouan four centuries ago is a kind of template for residential schools, and their continued legacy. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas Kevin Burns is a member of Editors Canada, The Writers Guild of Canada, The Writers' Union of Canada, and Canada's Creative Nonfiction Collective. |