Stephen Pihlaja is a Reader in English Language and Linguistics at Newman University Birmingham. Originally from Chicago in the US, he is an immigrant to the UK, having lived and worked in Birmingham for the past nine years. His research interests include religious discourse and interaction, particularly the role of storytelling in how people understand themselves and others. He is the author of several books about religious talk including Talk about Faith: How conversation and debate shape belief (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and editor of Analysing Religious Discourse (Cambridge University Press, 2021).