I’ll be joining a great line up folks for the upcoming C3 (Christ, Church, Culture) Conference hosted by the St. George’s Institute in Nashville, TN on March 1-3, 2012. This conference has quickly built a strong reputation for bringing together people at the intersection of theology, ministry, the arts, and cultural engagement. I’ll be joining…
Of the novels I read in 2011, here are the five that stand out in terms of their quality as well as their continued, lingering presence in my imagination: 5. Jonathan Franzen, Freedom. I began 2011 by reading this novel in January. Much-discussed, people seem to either love it or hate it. I’m in the…
5. Val Ross, Robertson Davies: A Portrait in Mosaic. [From my GoodReads review] Since reading Fifth Business, Davies has stood, for me, as the quintessential Canadian man of letters (I realize I’m just catching up with the 1970s in this respect). His emergence from a village in southwestern Ontario resonates with me, of course–though his…
Today, Ephiphany, is a fitting day to briefly highlight the poets I spent some time with in 2011, since I’ll begin with a poem on just that. 5. My subscription to Poetry is a primary source for new poetry in the house (along with their fantastic mobile app while I’m on the road). A favorite…
[I’m here cross-posting from The Twelve about a unique research opportunity on youth spirituality and worship. “Favorite Reads: 2011 Edition” will resume soon.] Do me a favor: Promise me you’ll read this post with The National’s “Conversation 16” video playing in the background. Don’t try to exegete the lyrics, just let it rattle and hum…
Twas the year of New Yorker stories for me, I guess. While I dabbled in some other collections (Hemmingway, Alice Munro), here are the five stories that made a dent on my imagination this past year (all published in the New Yorker): 5. Lauren Groff, “Above and Below.” A rather minimalist tale of a Florida…