BiblioFiles: A CenterForLit Podcast about Great Books, Great Ideas, and the Great Conversation

A continuation of our recent conversation on grace and literature, in this episode Megan brings to our attention the fact that the theme of grace also runs throughout most of the great children's literature. In fact, it may be that the best children's authors are able to present grace in an even clearer and stronger way than their more "serious" counterparts. Why is that? And is good children's literature just for children?

Referenced Works:

–Straw Into Gold by Gary Schmidt

–Anson's Way by Gary Schmidt

–Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt

–The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

–The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward

–A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban

–The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

–I Am David by Ann Holm

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation. 

Flannery O'Connor is one of our absolute favorite authors of the 20th century, and we were recently honored to have O'Connor expert Daniel Wilkinson of Andalusia Farm join us as our first guest for a BiblioFiles conversation. A resident of O'Connor's hometown, Daniel has a unique and thought-provoking perspective on her work and continuing legacy. We hope you get as much enjoyment and laughter out of our conversation as we did! 

Referenced Works:

–andalusiafarm.org

–The work of Flannery O'Connor including "The Displaced Person," "Parker's Back," Mystery and Manners, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," Wise Blood, "Revelation," "Everything That Rises Must Converge," A Prayer Journal, and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"

–"To the hard of hearing you shout, and to the almost blind you draw large and startling figure." -Mystery and Manners

–French theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

–Andalusia Wise Pod, the Andalusia Farm podcast

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation. 

We've made it to Episode #10! And in celebration we wanted to talk about our favorite subject: grace and literature. What is grace? Why does it show up in the classic works of literature again and again? Why can't we stop talking about it? We hope you'll be as uplifted and energized by this conversation as we were!

Referenced Works:

–Paul Zahl

–The Gardener by Sarah Stewart and David Small

–Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild! by Mem Fox

–The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

–2 Henry IV by William Shakespeare

–To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

–War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

–The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

–Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevky

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation. 

Thus far we've talked a lot about the role of the reader in approaching literature. But what about the author? Why write in the first place? Should the author use his work to to incite us, to instruct, to delight? Should literature be used at all? That is the subject of this episode...although we do end up talking about the role of the reader anyway. We can't help it. Oh, and this is also the episode where Ian and Missy have an unresolved disagreement, so we're going to need your input!

Referenced Works:

–Langston Hughes, poetry

–An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis

–Heidi, Johanna Spyri

–Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

–Moby Dick, Herman Melville

–Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

–The Bridges of Madison County, Robert James Waller

–Jayber Crow, Wendall Berry

–The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

–"To Build a Fire," Jack London

–Thomas Kinkade, paintings

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation. 

In a previous episode we questioned whether or not it was necessary for art to be beautiful. This time, we throw the question of truth on the table. Must literature tell the truth to be good art? What do we mean by "truth" and how does a finite, human author honestly articulate it? Grab a cup of coffee, and come join the Andrews in another attempt to participate in the Great Conversation!

Referenced Works:

–Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

–Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

–Moby Dick by Herman Melville

–Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

–Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

–The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

–Emma by Jane Austen

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.