Writer. Contributing Editor at The Discarded Image. Digital Content Strategist. Here's where I publicly explore the books I'm reading, the projects I'm working on, and other current interests. Festival of Faith & Writing 2008
We’re getting inches of snow at the moment, but I’m thinking spring, the season of crocuses, colored eggs, and conferences—or at least it will be for me this year. Because this year, Brandon and I will be heading off for the first time ever to the bi-annual Festival of Faith & Writing, April 17-19, at Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI). I’ve considered attending in the past, but travel costs from outside the Midwest were prohibitive. Now that we’re only a three-hour drive away, and I’m calling myself a full-time writer, AND Yann Martel, Luci Shaw, Krista Tippett, Phyllis Tickle, Scott Cairns, Katherine Patterson, and about a hundred others are speaking, well, I can’t be talked out it. So I’ll be there and, barring technical difficulties (including my laziness), I’ll be liveblogging it! If you’re interested but can’t make it, plan to check in here for updates. And if you are going to be there, please let me know so we can try to connect at some point (and if you’re a regular, give me a taste of what you’ve learned there).
Of course, this requires a drastic rearranging of my TBR list. One of the online Festival resources is this list of recommended books by this year’s speakers. To my chagrin I’ve read only a few. And I’m Type A-enough to prefer to familiarize myself with the works of writers I hope to learn from before I shake hands with them. So out of that list, here are the ten titles I plan to read before the Festival, assuming I can get copies in time:
Mischa Berlinski: Fieldwork (fiction; I’ve started it)
Ingrid Hill: Ursula, Under (fiction)
Edward P. Jones: The Known World (fiction)
Elizabeth Strout: Abide with Me (fiction)
Gary Schmidt: The Wednesday Wars (YA)
Carlos Eire: Waiting for Snow in Havana (memoir; I already have it)
Krista Tippett: Speaking of Faith (memoir; have this too)
Luci Shaw: The Crime of Living Cautiously (nonfiction)
Scott Cairns: Compass of Affection (poetry)
Franz Wright: God’s Silence (poetry)
Compared to the full list, do you see any really grievous omissions? Or think any of these are not worth my short list? I’m entertaining suggestions.
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