David Orr’s essay on the instrumentalization of poetry in Oprah’s magazine is worth a read for all kinds of reasons, but especially for the concluding paragraph where he rightly laments: I wish, though, that they had found space for someone — not a critic, necessarily, just someone willing to be honest — to talk about…
For a long time–even after I had published several books–I kept telling people that I wanted to be a writer. What I generally meant was that I wanted to be a novelist (and that’s still true) or write for Harper’s. But I also think I was working with a latent distinction I still want to…
I don’t envy young theologians and Christian scholars today. Fewer and fewer tenure-track positions only ramps up the expectations for landing a job. What might have earned someone tenure a generation ago is now almost needed just to land an interview. The pressure to publish begins in doctoral programs, especially for those outside of elite…
There’s no dearth of publishing in Christian theology. To the contrary, there has been an expanding universe of theological publishers churning out more and more books, now supplemented by the oft-hailed (and over-hailed, I’d say) blogosphere. So at this moment there are countless theologians writing–sketching outlines and plans, whiling away at manuscripts, passionate about their…