Nathan Brown (writer)

For other people of the same name, see Nathan Brown (disambiguation).

Nathan G. Brown (c. 1974—)^[1] is a Christian author and editor. Brown is the "book editor" for Signs Publishing Company, based near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

From He was editor of the magazines Signs of the Times, an Australian Christian magazine with a similar format to Reader's Digest; Record, the newsmagazine for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific; and the Edge. He has written articles for a broad variety of magazines internationally, and written or been the editing author of six or more books. He has won several awards for his writing. Former Adventist Review editor Bill Johnsson has described him as the best writer in the Adventist church.^[2]

He has degrees in law, English, and literature.

Biography

Brown has degrees in law, English and literature.^[3] In around 1999, he won a writing contest.^[4]

He worked for Signs Publishing Company as a reporter for the Record. He received an internship with the Adventist Review where he worked for six months.^[5] He received an honorable mention from the United States Associated Church Press for his article "Unfinished Work" in the Adventist Review world edition.^[6][7]

Brown was appointed chief editor of the Signs Publishing Company in 2003, believed to be its youngest editor ever;^[1] and moved from Townsville in northern Queensland to Victoria^[8] and the office of Signs Publishing Company.

He wrote a regular column for the Adventist Review for four years from 2003 till 2006,^[3] and has also had columns in Edge, and Signs of the Times. He has also had columns with other Christian magazines, and published other pieces.

Brown/Record received the "Best editorial/opinion piece" award from the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) on 4 October 2008. The award was for Brown's editorial "The 'family' myth" which critiqued the "family values" rhetoric of politicians, and appeared in Record just prior to the 2007 federal election.^[9] The judges commented,

"What a pity we didn’t hear more of this kind of thing during the election campaign, when the phrase ‘family values’ was being tossed about in into almost every speech and discussion. Nathan Brown, in examining what this nebulous term really means, urges us to see it in a larger perspective, as going beyond the nuclear family and into the wider world. He also points out something preachers and teachers often forget, that Jesus was very far from being a family man in the narrow Western sense. A brave and original point of view."^[10]

He is studying towards a doctorate in English from James Cook University about the possibilities of God in postmodern literature.^[1][8] His hobbies include reading and writing, playing basketball, making radio, and growing flowers.^[3] He is married to Angela, with whom he supports sponsor children in several countries.^[3]

Publications

Brown has published many articles and several books, including:

• Relevation (Victoria, Australia: Signs, 2006); ISBN 1921292008; website^[11][12]
• 7 Reasons Life is Better With God Autumn House (Review and Herald), 2007; ISBN 0812704365; distributor's website
• Nemesis Train (Sydney, Australia: Ark House, 2008); ISBN 9780980541403; publisher's page; blog^[13]
• Pastor George: The Story of the First Aboriginal Adventist Pastor (Australia: Australian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2010); ISBN 978-0-646-53284-4. A biography of George Quinlin^[14]

Compiler and editor of:

• Ordinary People – Extraordinary God: Real-life Stories of Faith and Commitment (Victoria, Australia: Signs, 2005); ISBN 1876010851^[15]
• Ordinary People – Faithful God: More Stories of Faith and Commitment (Victoria, Australia: Signs, 2007); ISBN 1921292105^[16]
• Ordinary People – Generous God: More Stories of Faith and Commitment (Victoria, Australia: Signs, 2010)^[17]

Chapters in the "Australian Stories" series of books:

• "Does God Watch Football?", p132–34 in Australian Stories for the Heart (Sydney: Strand, 2002)
• Chapter in Australian Stories for the Spirit (Sydney, New South Wales: Strand, 2003); ISBN 1876825103^[18]
• "Locked In", p90–92; "The Finch", p192–194; "A Postcard of Grace", p238–240 in Inspirational Australian Stories ed. David and Rachel Dixon (Sydney: Strand, 2004)
• "The Art of Tipping", p3–6 of Australian Stories of Life ed. David and Rachel Dixon (Sydney: Strand, 2005)

See also

• Signs Publishing Company
• Signs of the Times (Australia)
• Record (magazine)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "New editor for Australian Signs". Adventist Review v180 (18 December 2003), p20. Brenton Stacey, "New editor named for Signs". Record 108:48 (6 December 2003), p1,5
2. ^ Cited by Bruce Manners (former Record editor) in "That last editorial", a letter to the editor, Record 114:39 (10 October 2009), p29. Manners adds, "We've seen this over the years."
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Relevation – About the Author
4. ^ "Aussie wins writing contest". Record v104 (13 February 1999), p5
5. ^ "Record reporter offered internship with Adventist Review". Record v107 (2 March 2002), p3
6. ^ Nathan Brown, "An unfinished work". Adventist Review v179 (12 December 2002), p8–11. The article originally appeared as "God’s Unfinished Work" in Signs of the Times (Australia and New Zealand version), August 2002
7. ^ "Aussie writer receives US award". Record v108 (24 May 2003), p4
8. ^ ^{a b} Signs of the Times – Meet the Team
9. ^ Nathan Brown, "The 'family' myth". Record 112:44 (17 November 2007), p2
10. ^ "RECORD recognised at ARPA awards" by Adele Nash. Record 25 October 2008, p4
11. ^ "Editor's book launched at DEC". Record v111 (9 December 2006), p2
12. ^ Reviews include Stephen Chavez, Adventist Review v184 (12 April 2007), p30; and Julene Duerksen-Kapao, Record v111 (16 December 2006), p9
13. ^ One review is "Nemesis Train: A puzzle, but the pieces fit" by Melody Tan. See also "RECORD editor launches Nemesis Train by Adele Nash. Record 113:42 (1 November 2008), p7
14. ^ Note: In traditional Aboriginal culture, people avoid naming the dead
15. ^ Melody Tan, "New books launched at Session". Record v110 (17 September 2005), p10
16. ^ Adele Nash, "New book of stories launched at Signs". Record v112 (27 October 2007), p3
17. ^ Excerpts adapted in "Ordinary People Generous God". Record 115:12 (29 May 2010), p18–19. Release announced in "Book of Stories Helps Stewardship Focus" in the same issue of Record, p14
18. ^ Flashpoint. Record 108:43 (1 November 2003), p3

External links

• Interview of Brown by Julius Nam
• Articles by Brown cataloged in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI)

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