Peoples Temple in the Arts

A number of musicians, writers, dramatists, and filmmakers have completed – or are still working on – many creative projects which consider the people of Peoples Temple and the events in Jonestown. The articles below describe those projects, introduce the creative forces behind them, and consider how they perceive their own work.

A. Art and popular culture notes

B. Books and poetry

1. Finding Truth in Fiction, by Jane Hammons
2. Using Peoples Temple to Tell a Story: Jim Jones in Three Novels, by Karen Stroup
3. Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s Look Published, by Laura Johnston Kohl
   1. A Recommendation, by Eusi Kwayana
   2. An Insider’s Look, by Niels Colesky
   3. A Narrated Tour of Jonestown, by Susan White Hicks
   4. Laura Johnston Kohl’s Jonestown, by Bill Perrine
4. Eternally Grateful: A Year After Slavery of Faith, by Leslie Wagner-Wilson
5. Closing the Book, by Eusi Kwayana
6. And Then They Were Gone: A Report, by Judy Bebelaar and Ron Cabral
   1. Peoples Temple Timeline
7. Writing Jonestown Book Nears Its End, by Julia Scheeres
8. As Long As There’s Life, There’s Hope, by Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons
9. I Killed Jim Jones, Author’s Note, by Arnold Ludwig
   1. I Killed Jim Jones, Prologue
10. The Onliest One Alive: A Reconsideration of the First Survivor Account, by Sylvia Marciniak
11. Saying Farewell to Jonestown, by Annie Dawid
12. The Vexation of Jonestown, by Carmen Gillespie
    1. One
13. Reading the Language of Jonestown, by darlene anita scott

C. Music

1. Jonestown Triptych: Reflections, by Bill Sallak
2. Reflections on a Year With “Jonestown,” by Sofia Talvik

D. Film and Drama

1. “Words Fail,” by Abby Bradley
2. Means to an End: Thoughts on the Writing of the Stage Play, My Father’s House, by Ken White
3. Nearing the End of Comfort, by Meghann Williams
4. Spending years with the story of Peoples Temple, by Carl Kelsch
5. Missing Pieces: A play in hibernation, by Anna Costello
6. The People’s Temple: A Student’s Journey to Understanding, by Maggie Downing
7. Medea Sirkas Documentary Film to Be Released in 2011
8. Jonestown: A film concept, by Keanan O’Carroll
9. I believe in Jim Jones: A cinematic tribute to the people of Peoples Temple, by Susan Spaller
10. Finding The Scope of Peoples Temple, by David A. Berdass
11. The Guyana Tragedy Myth, by Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons

E. Artworks and photography

1. Pages, by Allison M. Coleman
2. A moment that contains all moments, by Sasha Sark
3. The Excavation of Jonestown, by Nicola Bergström
4. A Message in Our Music, by Andy Brown
5. Impressions of Jonestown, by T. Gordon
6. Pieces of Jonestown, by Aaron Oldenburg
7. The Miniaturization of Jonestown, by Daniel Russell