Phil Cousineau illustrates how myths are the stories of real life whether people are conscious of them as myths or not. He shows readers how, by becoming aware of myths in both their historical and present form, they can read the world better, with a deeper understanding of work, love, creativity, and spirituality. The book retells classic myths such as Eros and Psyche and provides new accounts of more contemporary mythmakers such as Jim Morrison and Vincent van Gogh, illustrating how these legends have affected history, culture, and individuals. The timelessness of myth is conveyed through Cousineau’s discussions of the mythology of travel, mentors, cities, baseball, and vampires.
PHIL COUSINEAU is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, teacher and editor, world-wide lecturer, storyteller and TV host. His fascination with the art, literature, and history of culture has taken him from Michigan to Marrakesh, Iceland to the Amazon, in a worldwide search for what the ancients called the "soul of the world." With more than 25 books and 15 scriptwriting credits to his name, the "omnipresent influence of myth in modern life" is a thread that runs through all of his work.
BOOKS: Cousineau's books include STOKING THE CREATIVE FIRES, ONCE AND FUTURE MYTHS, THE ART OF PILGRIMAGE, THE HERO'S JOURNEY: JOSEPH CAMPBELL ON HIS LIFE AND WORK, SOUL: AN ARCHAEOLOGY, and most recently, WORDCATCHER. A new book of essays and reflections on healing, restitution and atonement, titled BEYOND FORGIVENESS, will publish in 2011. His books have been translated into nine languages, and he is a contributor to more than 30 other books.
TALKS & TRAVELS: Cousineau lectures frequently on a wide spectrum of topics that reflect his mythic and scholarly journeys, including mythology, movies, writing, mentorship, beauty, language, travel, sports, language, and creativity. He has been the keynote speaker at major conferences as diverse as the Ansel Adams Centennial Celebration in Yosemite National Park, and The European Unitarian Universalists' Retreat in the Netherlands. He has been invited to lecture at distinguished venues around the world and has collaborated and appeared with some of the great thinkers and philosophers of our time, including mentors Joseph Campbell and Huston Smith. He enjoys collaborating with musicians and artists. An expert in pilgrimage, Cousineau occasionally leads small group journeys to sacred and culturally rich places; in 2011 he will take groups to Ireland and Paris.
FILMS: Phil Cousineau's screenwriting credits in documentary films have won more than 25 international awards and include: A SEAT AT THE TABLE, ECOLOGICAL DESIGN, WAYFINDERS, THE PEYOTE ROAD, WIPING THE TEARS OF SEVEN GENERATIONS, THE HERO'S JOURNEY; and the Academy Award-nominated FOREVER ACTIVISTS.
TV & APPEARANCES: He is currently the co-writer and host of GLOBAL SPIRIT, Link TV's "internal travel" television series soon broadcasting on PBS stations. Cousineau has also appeared on CNN, The Discovery Channel, and Fox News, and been featured on Voice of America, PRI's The World, CBC's Tapestry, Deepak Chopra's Wellness Radio, and Public Radio's At Issue with Ben Merens. He has been interviewed for stories in TIME and NEWSWEEK as well as the NEW YORK TIMES. He has been a judge for the Emmys, San Francisco Film Festival, and the PEN-WEST literary awards. Look for his expert commentary and mythic take on film among the special features on several Warner Brothers DVDs--from THE NATURAL and CONSTANTINE to BATMAN and SUPERMAN.
CONSULTING: An expert on mythology and film and the "hero journey" structure of screenplays, Cousineau consults on all types of writing projects.
Cousineau lives with his family in North Beach in San Francisco, California, where he is currently writing a book on beauty. Learn more at http://www.philcousineau.net.
