Schaap To Retire from Dordt College

James Schaap, author of many award-winning books of fiction and non-fiction that frequently feature people and places in the Christian Reformed Church, is retiring at the end of this academic year as a professor of English at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Many of Schaap’s books have been published by Faith Alive Christian Resources, the publishing agency of the Christian Reformed Church.

Schaap began teaching at Dordt in 1976. As he continues writing, he will likely remain connected to Dordt in various ways after his retirement.

On Sunday, Feb. 19, he will share his “final hurrah,” he has said jokingly, in an evening reading at Dordt. The reading will feature Stories from Up the Hill, stories he has written during the last year or so.

He says he traces the inspiration for these stories to his days as a student at Dordt when he discovered the work of author Frederick Manfred.

Manfred grew up on a farm in northwestern Iowa. He was raised in the Christian Reformed Church and attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he began his long writing career.

Many of Frederick Manfred's novels reflect his own experiences, including his religious upbringing and the people and landscape of his native Iowa.

“I was deeply influenced by him as a student,” said Schaap. “Much of my character as a writer is created, in some ways, by Frederick Manfred.”

Schaap’s fascination for Manfred’s writing and characters was reignited about five years ago in an experience at a cemetery, where he came across the grave a woman who, he had the odd feeling, he knew from the work of Manfred.

Stories from Up the Hill examines in both humorous and serious ways the time between death and resurrection—the “somewhere in between,” says Schaap.

Schaap is the author of 23 books and several short stories. His work has received several awards.