Jackson's new book looks at the life and songs of Annamacharya, Purandaradasa, and Kanakadasa. It provides biographical and critical essays on the singer-saints along with fresh translations of their songs, and general introduction, and an essay on Bhakti literature.
William J. Jackson is the author of several books about South Indian culture including "Tyagaraja - Life and Lyrics," "Songs of Three Great South Indian Saints," and "Vijayanagara Visions," all published by Oxford University Press. He also wrote "Vijayanagara Voices: Exploring South Indian History and Hindu Literature," published by Ashgate Publishing in England. He has also written a book about fractal-like geometrical patterns in cultural artifacts, entitled "Heaven's Fractal Net: Retrieving Lost Visions in the Humanities" (Indiana University Press). From 2005-2008 he served as the first Lake Scholar at the Lake Family Instititute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. As part of his work in that position he published an anthology entitled "The Wisdom of Generosity" (Baylor University Press). His novel. "Diving for Carlos" and a book of short stories, "Worldviews Kaleidoscope" are examples of his fiction. In 2008 he was a finalist in the Faulkner/Wisdom annual competition in the category of novellas. He is currently working on a novel set in India, and a series of essays about American culture.
He is Professor Emeritus, Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, where he taught for 20 years. He earned his PhD in the Comparative Study of Religion at Harvard University. He is married to Marcia Plant Jackson, and lives in Indianapoilis.
