Author of Peace Like a River, Leif Enger, has another novel coming. Watch for So Brave, Young, and Handsome on shelves this May. Peace Like a River was an Amazon.com’s Best of 2001.
Category Archives: Authors
Bertrand to Be on the Mars Hill Audio Journal
Ken Myers has interviewed J. Mark Bertrand on worldview, reading, and other fun topics. That should be a great interview. You can subscribe to the MP3 version of the MHA Journal for $30/year. It’s always very interesting.
In fact, you can listen to several recordings in their CD Bonus section. Note these two: “Vol. 66 – Leon Kass, on how new technologies have changed the assumptions many people have about their children” and “Vol. 53 – Dana Gioia talks about the life and work of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and reads a poem inspired by the death of his wife, ‘The Cross of Snow.'”
Write While the Iron is Hot
Anecdotal Evidence is talking about Thoreau’s thoughts on writing. “A feeble writer,” Thoreau says, “and without genius must have what he thinks a great theme, which we are already interested in through the accounts of other, but a genius – a Shakespeare, for instance – would make the history of his parish more interesting than another’s history of the world.”
Interview with Poet Laureate
Fujimura’s River Grace
Artist Makota Fujimura (to whose blog we link in our sidebar) has written a personal book on his life and art, called River Grace. Alissa Wilkinson says, “With gentleness and elegance, Fujimura’s book examines the relationship between faith, art, and love.” There are many beautiful illustrations and stories behind the work.
Tim Challies has a good interview with Fujimura, which the artist says, “Good art (whether created by Christians or non-Christians) should produce a longing for that reality.”
Learn more about River Grace at the website.
Cold weather and cold judgment
Last night on the radio, a thoughtful newslady explained to us what she said were “warning signs of frostbite.” This is a subject of more than theoretical interest just here and just now.
“The first sign of frostbite,” she said, “is a tingling sensation in the face or extremities.”
Oh yeah?
A tingling sensation in the face or extremities is not the first sign of frostbite for me. For me, a tingling sensation is the first sign of being outside in the winter. Even when it’s a whole lot warmer than it is right now.
The stages that follow are numbness and aching.
All these stages occur within the first thirty seconds of exposure.
God bless the U.S. Air Force, which invented the arctic snorkel parka that’s the only thing that makes it possible for me to actually leave the house between November and April.
The January Smithsonian Magazine includes an article on Norman Mailer by Lance Morrow.
Here’s a paragraph that struck me:
In Mailer’s work, one feels more in the presence of energy and virtuosity than of truth… Except for some journalistic bull’s-eyes in the reportage (riffs on politicians like Nixon and Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy), Mailer simply does not feel true. Reading some of his more strenuous cosmic exertions is a little like watching an actor onstage who picks up a suitcase that is supposedly full, but is, in fact, empty: the actor by body English tries to make the bag look heavy, as Mailer tries to make the sentences profound. But the audience knows.
I get the impression that when Morrow speaks of “truth” he’s writing about something he probably can’t define and doesn’t really believe in. But even for intellectuals, the heart knows. The heart can tell.
DeMuth Blogs on Writing, Publishing
Author Mary DeMuth is now blogging at www.wannabepublished.blogspot.com. She introduces her new blog on The Master’s Artist. She says she “remembers what it’s like to be wide-eyed and naïve about publishing. She’s passionate about helping new writers, but since her writing and speaking schedule is filling up, she’s decided to funnel her help into a user-friendly blog.”
Tim Challies on the Radio
Tim Challies is on Moody Broadcasting’s Prime Time America this week to talk about his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment.
Freneau’s Heroes at Eutaw Sprtings
American poet Philip Freneau was born on this date in 1752. Since I know little about Freneau, I thought I’d post this link and point to his poem “Eutaw Springs,” spotlighted today on Bartleby.com. It’s one of those salutes to the fallen, heroes of America’s War of Independence who wrestled with their enemy at great cost.
Robert Frost’s Home Vandalized
A party of 50-some underaged drinkers tore up a summer home in Ripton, Vermont, used by poet Robert Frost, police report.