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About
Dean Cothill
Writer, father and former minister living in Gqeberha, South Africa.
My writing is shaped by years in church ministry, the ache of burnout, the beauty of fatherhood, and the slow work of finding faith again after certainty has fallen apart.
I write at the intersection of faith, becoming, masculinity, grief and the sacred ordinary — the places where theology meets real life and real life complicates theology. I look for God in quieter places: around kitchen tables, on early morning roads, beside the ocean, in grief, in laughter, and in the ordinary moments that usually go unnoticed.
Through poetry, prayer, memoir and reflective writing, I make work for people who feel in-between — those who have left one world but have not yet reached the next. I am interested in the things that are true before they are polished. In the faith that survives doubt. In the tenderness that survives hardness. In men who are learning, slowly, that strength and softness are not opposites. In people who are somewhere between one life and the next, wondering whether they are allowed in.
I believe they are.
The books
Four titles release together in September 2026, all published by Urban Publishing: Poems & Prayers, Between Arrivals and Departures, SOUL: A Small Book of Returning and The Five Questions. The first print run was crowdfunded by readers through BackaBuddy, which reached 100% of its target.
Interviews, events and media
I am glad to do interviews, podcasts, book clubs, men's groups and church events, in person in the Eastern Cape or remotely. For review copies, interview requests or speaking enquiries, email dean@deancothill.co.za.
The email list
Letters from the Quiet
An occasional letter — a poem, a prayer, an honest essay. No noise, no spam, unsubscribe any time. Sign up and choose your welcome gift.
Your first letter arrives with your chosen gift. Launching alongside the books in September 2026.