Pamela Ayo Yetunde: Listen Deeply to What People Say
Author Pamela Ayo Yetunde discusses letting go of her superpower in the process of writing and publishing her new book, Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, and This Thing Called Life.
Pamela Ayo Yetunde, ThD, is a pastoral counselor, educator, and founder of the Theology of Prince project at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She is the author of Casting Indra's Net, named one of the best spirituality books in 2023 by Spirituality and Practice, and coeditor of Black and Buddhist, winner of the Nautilus Gold Book Award. Her work has been featured in Lions Roar, Spirituality and Practice, and Spirituality and Health, among many other outlets. In 2022 Yetunde was named an Outstanding Woman in Buddhism by the International Women's Meditation Center Foundation. She lives in Chicago. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
In this interview, Pamela discusses letting go of her superpower in the process of writing and publishing her new book, Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, and This Thing Called Life, her advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Pamela Ayo Yetunde
Book title: Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, and This Thing Called Life
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
Release date: April 22, 2025
Genre/category: Biography & Autobiography / Music; Religion / Christianity / Literature & The Arts
Previous titles: Author of Casting Indra’s Net and coeditor of Black and Buddhist
Elevator pitch: For both die-hard and casual fans of Prince, Dearly Beloved by Pamela Ayo Yetunde reveals the spiritual background of Prince’s music and how his art can teach us all how to live our best spiritual life.
What prompted you to write this book?
Every time I told someone about the Theology of Prince project I conceived and launched at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, people would halt the conversation and tell me that I needed to write a book about Prince’s theology. I used to say that they could access the Theology of Prince Journal that we compiled for the project, but they’d insist that I also needed to write a book. I thought about this for years with no resolution.
Some years after we finished the project, I was invited by the Collegeville Institute in Collegeville, MN, to be a resident at their writer retreat. I decided to go with the intention to listen to all of Prince’s music that I had access to, to see if Prince was telling me, us, anything I had not heard before and if I heard it, then I would write a book proposal. The proposal was accepted, and that’s what prompted me to write this book.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
If I take the Theology of Prince project into consideration, which began as an idea in 2017, then it took about eight years from the initial project idea to telling people about the project, to accepting the invitation from Collegeville Institute, to writing the book proposal (in nine days) to finishing the last draft. It took only about two years from submitting my book proposal to publication because I’m a life-long Prince fan and because of the work we did at the seminary.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Yes. I pride myself on my ability to name things. I would say that this is one of my superpowers honed by my studies in advertising copywriting. While writing my book proposal, I thought I had come up with the perfect title, The Preacher in the Boudoir: Prince…. I thought this title was perfect because from my point of view, Prince was constantly offering the dualism of good vs. bad, Christianity vs. sexuality, and the resolution of theses dualism, which is true. On the other hand, the editors offered Dearly Beloved: Prince…, and I had to sit with this offer. As I repeated the new title, I could feel how Dearly Beloved is much more emotionally evocative within my being, inspiring, and honoring of Prince’s ultimate aim. I had to let go of my superpower, and I’m glad I did.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Yes. First, I was surprised that there was more to Prince than I had originally discovered, and I thought these surprises were worthy of exploration and needed explication. For example, when I read the Kama Sutra, his persona as a sexy Christian evangelical made perfect sense to me. Also, his film Graffiti Bridge, which I had largely written off as not worthy of deep investigation, proved to be one of the most mystically mysterious pieces of art in his body of work. There were many surprises!
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Prince was a star beyond categorization. He successfully defied the attempts to put him and keep him in the “Black music” and adjacent categories of Soul, R&B, Old School, and so on. Nevertheless, his work, taken as a whole, has not been recognized for the gospel that it is. Also, I want readers to know that they can use Prince’s music for religious and spiritual practice, spiritual growth, and resilience in an increasingly dangerous world.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Listen deeply to what people say, how they say it, and how often it is said when they tell you, “You should write a book about that!” Then, take the memories of all of those exhortations into a place for contemplation. Let your decision whether to write or not come from the deepest places of your knowing.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
