Phil Cousineau

PHIL COUSINEAU is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, story consultant and editor, travel leader and inspirational speaker on myth in the modern world. 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 40 books and 30 scriptwriting credits to his name, the “omnipresent influence of myth in modern life” is a thread that runs through all of his work. His books include Stoking the Creative Fires, Once and Future Myths, The Art of Pilgrimage, The Hero's Journey, Wordcatcher, The Painted Word, The Oldest Story in the World, The Book of Roads, The Accidental Aphorist and The Lost Notebooks of Sisyphus.

 

Q&A with PHIL COUSINEAU

 

Sisyphus Press: Phil, your biography paints you as a Renaissance man—you are a multifaceted writer, filmmaker, independent scholar, mythologist and writing coach; you are an expert on meaningful travel, as well as former semi-pro athlete. You have published more than forty books, many of which are available in the Sisyphus Press store, including the bestselling The Art of Pilgrimage, Once and Future Myths, and even a book of baseball haiku, Fungoes and Fastballs. We know that mentors such as Joseph Campbell, Huston Smith, and Robert A Johnson, have meant a lot to you. Will you tell us about them, and your other influences?

 

Phil Cousineau: I was raised French-Catholic and went to the University of Detroit, a Jesuit college, to study journalism. After graduation I spent three years on a journey around the world, working and immersing myself in culture everywhere I went. Shortly after returning in 1976, I moved to Berkeley, California, and began studying with Kenneth Cohen, now a well known Qigong master, who recommended I study the work of Joseph Campbell because "he's weaving together everything you're interested in." He was right: I was all over the place, studying world mythology, comparative religion, literature, poetry, philosophy, and filmmaking. I had no idea it could be all tied together until I actually started working with Campbell, ultimately cowriting the film (and book) about him, The Hero's Journey, over the course of seven years. Joe encouraged my work with myth, urging me to take it further and continue "making it my own." In the early 1990s I had a second great stroke of luck in terms of mentors, which was meeting up with and then collaborating with Huston Smith, the beloved historian of religion, on several films and books. Besides becoming a great friend, Huston gave me the courage of my convictions that compassion is at the heart of all great religious traditions.

 

Sisyphus Press: Not everyone knows that you have written more than thirty documentary films, including The Hero's Journey: The Life and Work of Joseph Campbell, and Academy Award-nominated Forever Activists: Stories from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, plus you have contributed to or consulted on scores more. You taught at the American Film Institute, and are considered to be an expert on mythology and film, as well as the use of the "Hero's Journey" in screenplays, and the Overstory and Understory aspects of dramatic structure. You consult on many film and TV projects, from independent documentaries to big studio feature productions for the likes of Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Studios, LucasFilm, and Pixar Studios. All of this is a bit of a lead up to your next book project, yes?

Phil Cousineau: Yes, my next book is The Wisdom of the Odyssey, due out in summer of 2026, just in time for the release of Christopher Nolan's much anticipated film version of The Odyssey. It will be the ideal companion for people who see the film and want to dive deeper into the books. I've read and studied more than a dozen different translations of the epic work, and have been teaching it for decades. It is widely considered the oldest novel in history, and it is staggering to think people have heard it performed or read about it for the last 2,700 years. Since it was first published in Florence in 1488, it has never gone out of print. Many scholars disagree about what the key points are in the work, but what is indisputable is that it has held audiences spellbound for generations. My greatest fascination about The Odyssey is that it enchants audiences, young and old, in cultures the world over. I feel bolstered by the recent revelation that Homer too was intrigued by this power of the storytellers and bards of his time because he features them as part of his recognition and revelation scenes. Overall, I want to retell the tales as if we were there in the ancient world, while pointing out to today's readers certain mythologems, brilliant images that shine in each of the 24 books of The Odyssey. I'm hoping this will help them find more nuanced meaning in The Odyssey today, but also to enchant them--as was Homer's original intent!

Sisyphus Press: You are an inspiring speaker, and you were also host and co-writer of your own TV series on PBS-TV, Global Spirit. You continue to lecture and present your work to audiences around the world. Do you enjoy this aspect of your career?

Phil Cousineau: Writers spend an inordinate amount of time alone. When I do come out and speak or teach publicly on topics that I love, I tend to be passionate about them and convey a unique enthusiasm about them in a way that people may find inspiring or especially meaningful. Go big or go home!

 

 

To:
- Invite Phil Cousineau to lecture or lead a workshop on myth, creativity, writing, travel, sports, beauty
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Fill out the form on this site's contact page or please write:
Phil Cousineau
Sisyphus Press
P.O. Box 330098
San Francisco, CA 94133 USA

 

To purchase autographed or other copies of Phil Cousineau's books, films, postcards, broadsides, and more, please visit our online bookstore. Phil's books are available wherever books are sold, but you're having trouble finding a favorite book, click on this link to send us a detailed e-mail and we'd be happy to help if we can. 

 

 

GLOBAL SPIRIT