UBC Press The Forgiveness Project book Paperback 224 pages

Examining themes of forgiveness, reconciliation and conflicttransformation, this book brings together the personal testimonies ofboth survivors and perpetrators of crime and violence and asks thequestion whether forgiveness may have more currency than revenge in anage which seems locked into the cycle of conflict. The powerful reallife stories collected by The Forgiveness Project come from ordinarypeople around the world in a diverse range of situations, includingthose who have transformed aggression into a driving force for peace.Raising the possibility of alternatives to resentment, retaliation andrevenge, each story shows the very real impact of forgiveness (or lackof forgiveness) within a particular context, provoking questions suchas "What is forgiveness?", "How can you respond to theunforgivable?"' and "Can you move on withoutforgiveness?" Marina Cantacuzino's challenging, reflective introductory essaysets the stories in the larger context of approaches to forgiveness,from both religious and secular viewpoints, concluding that in thereality of lived experience forgiveness has a quality "asmysterious as love."As with all good storytelling each personal narrative in this bookreveals both the intimate in the epic and the epic in the intimate.The Forgiveness Project grew out of a conviction that people'sperspectives only shift when they are able to hear the stories ofothers. In ten years it has become a high impact and influentialcharity that has wide application and a universal draw on people. Usingreal stories of victims and perpetrators, the charity sets out toexplore concepts of forgiveness and conflict resolution in order tohumanise the "other," foster resilient relationships and helpto dissolve tension.All royalties from the sale of this book will go to The ForgivenessProject.

Marina Cantacuzino is an award-winning journalist whoin 2003, in response to the imminent invasion of Iraq, embarked on apersonal project collecting stories from people who had lived throughviolence, tragedy, or injustice and sought forgiveness rather thanrevenge. In 2004, she founded The Forgiveness Project(www.theforgivenessproject.com), a charitable organisation that usesreal personal narratives to explore how ideas around forgiveness,reconciliation, and conflict resolution can be used to impactpositively on people's lives. In 2012, Marina spoke at the UNGeneral Assembly about the work of The Forgiveness Project.