Rewrite Radio

By Festival of Faith & Writing

What's Rewrite Radio about?

Rewrite Radio is the podcast of the Festival of Faith & Writing (#FFWgr), a biennial celebration of literature and belief in Grand Rapids, MI.

Festival is the flagship initiative of the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing (CCFW), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit fostering scholarship & community around the literary arts.

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Rewrite Radio episodes:

04.11.2023
#67 Virginia Stem Owens 1994
#67 Virginia Stem Owens 1994 by Festival of Faith & Writing
01.31.2023
#66 Thomas Lynch
#66 Thomas Lynch by Festival of Faith & Writing
01.18.2023
#65 Clare Vanderpool
In episode #65 of Rewrite Radio, Newbery Medal winner Clare Vanderpool shares how stories transform us and how to maintain our most honest selves. She also sings a few yodel-ay-hee’s from her book Moon Over Manifest. Theme music is Modern Attempt...
07.29.2022
#64 Jennifer Trafton
In episode #64 of Rewrite Radio, Jennifer Trafton teaches her listeners and students that play is at the heart of creativity. She draws on her experiences as a child and in the classroom to invite writers to play so that...
07.29.2022
#63 Diane Glancy and Sefi Atta
In episode #63 of Rewrite Radio, Sefi Atta and Diane Glancy offer their own thoughts on writing across the borders of religion, culture, language and more. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.
07.29.2022
#62 Jeff Zentner
In episode #62 of Rewrite Radio, Jeff Zentner tells how he invited his characters to live inside his head for months in order to let them tell their own stories. He encourages listeners to write who fascinates them and that...
07.07.2022
#61 Brady Udall
In Rewrite Radio episode #61, Brady Udall offers his thoughts on teaching how to write a novel as opposed to short story or poetry. He distinguishes the long-lived popularity of novels in today’s society and why that is.
07.07.2022
#60 Anbara Salam
In Rewrite Radio episode #60, Dr. Anbara Salam teaches us more about the human interest in cults, how they are represented, and how they reveal our deepest vulnerabilities and anxieties.
07.07.2022
#59 Gloria Pinkney
In episode #59 of Rewrite Radio, author and minister Gloria Pinkney retells stories of how God answered her prayers through a reoccurring bumper sticker, through a yellow tow truck outside the LaGuardia Airport, and through many other signs. Listen as...
06.16.2022
#58 Mitali Perkins
In episode #58 of Rewrite Radio, Mitali Perkins offers five truths about fiction. Listen as she thinks of stories as windows and mirrors that teach us to make things right. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11...
06.16.2022
#57 Helena Maria Viramontes
In episode #57 of Rewrite Radio, Helena María Viramontes shares her thoughts on prayer, compassion, and love to form a deeper connection with others. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.
06.16.2022
#56 Doris Betts
In Rewrite Radio episode #56, Doris Betts reads from her novel, Souls Raised from the Dead, at the 1994 Festival of Faith & Writing. This particular chapter involves a quick-witted conversation between the two grandmothers of the main character, Mary...
05.27.2022
#55 Dan Taylor
In Rewrite Radio Episode #55, writer, speaker, and traveler Daniel Taylor discusses the healing power of stories and the way stories make us a different person. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.
05.27.2022
#54 Emma Green
In Rewrite Radio Episode #54, journalist Emma Green opens up her reporter’s notebook from her time spent living in Jerusalem, looking at the broader themes that animate global religion. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew...
05.27.2022
#53 Luis Alberto Urrea
In Rewrite Radio Episode #53, Luis Alberto Urrea shares his journey as a faithful writer—from a Tijuana garbage dump to Devil’s Highway. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.
05.02.2022
#52 Eugene Peterson 2010
In Rewrite Radio Episode #52, Eugene Peterson and Scott Hoezee discuss teaching, preaching, and conversation at the 2010 Festival of Faith & Writing. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.
05.02.2022
#51 Carlos Eire 2008
In Rewrite Radio Episode #51, National Book Award winner Carlos Eire muses on the ethics of false memory, the power of images, and the story of thousands of children who, like him, were airlifted from Castro's Cuba, without their parents,...
05.02.2022
#50 Jen Hatmaker 2018
In Rewrite Radio Episode #50, Jen Hatmaker and Jennifer Holberg discuss the truths that humor conveys, the need for good friends, and the problems facing evangelicals. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.
04.13.2022
#49 Lee Smith 1996
In Rewrite Radio Episode #49, writer Lee Smith talks about and reads from her novel Saving Grace. Smith lets us into the stories behind her novels, her experiences with southern churches, and her fascination with all forms of ecstatic religion....
04.13.2022
#48 Walter Wangerin 2000
In Rewrite Radio Episode #48, Walter Wangerin, Jr. begins his Festival talk by comparing hard rain on a roof to the sound of applause and praise, and he says that he found it his job to seek God in the...
04.13.2022
#47 Festival of Faith & Writing Retrospective 2022
In Rewrite Radio Episode #47, CCFW co-director Jennifer Holberg interviews some who have been there since the beginning of Festival: Henry J. Baron, Donald Hettinga, and Gary D. Schmidt. This episode shares the journey of the Festival’s past 30 years–its...
10.05.2020
#46: Season 2 Review: Stories As Service
Episode 46 of Rewrite Radio features a collection of excerpts from our second season of the podcast, curated and edited together by CCFW media producerJon Brown and program coordinator Natalie Rowland. Join us as we journey through past Festival sessions...
07.17.2019
#45: Elie Wiesel 1998
On this episode of Rewrite Radio, we go back to the first night of Festival 1998 and Nobel-prize-winning writer Elie Wiesel, who offers powerful and prophetic words as applicable today as they were then. The author of over 60...
07.03.2019
#44: Nikki Grimes 2018
Today on Rewrite Radio, we bring you Nikki Grimes, speaking at Festival 2018 about the potential story and poetry have to teach us empathy. Drawing examples from her own work, Grimes talks about the way that words can connect people...
06.05.2019
#43: Will Campbell 1990
Today’s episode, a recording from the very first Festival in 1990 and it features Will Campbell. Campbell, a Baptist minister, is perhaps best known for his involvement in the Civil Rights movement, first through the National Council of Churches and...
05.22.2019
#42: Yann Martel 2008
In this session of Rewrite Radio, we listen back to a conversation with writer Yann Martel from Festival 2008. Interviewed by Otto Selles, a French professor and poet, Martel lets us into the stories behind his stories, the quirks of...
05.08.2019
#41: Marilynne Robinson 2006
Marilynne Robinson is the author of four novels: Housekeeping, winner of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for the best first novel published in 1980; Gilead, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for fiction; Home, the winner of the 2009 Orange Prize...
04.24.2019
#40: Abigail Disney & Dorothy Fortenberry 2018
On today’s episode of Rewrite Radio: working in the television and movie industry, Abigail Disney and Dorothy Fortenberry are involved in making some of the most significant media today. In this wide-ranging conversation with Jennifer Holberg, co-director of the CCFW,...
04.10.2019
#39: Li-Young Lee 2004
In this episode of Rewrite Radio, we bring you a session from Festival 2004. Listen in as two poets—Li-Young Lee and Nick Samaras—define the “demonization” of lyrical language and explore the meaning of pauses articulate in poems. Along the way,...
03.27.2019
#38: Rabbi Sandy Sasso 2018
On this Rewrite Radio: Calvin College chaplain, Mary Hulst--first woman ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in the US--interviews Rabbi Sandy Sasso, the first woman to have been ordained a rabbi in Reconstructionist Judaism. Sasso and Hulst discuss Judaism,...
03.06.2019
#37: Fleming Rutledge 2018
On this episode of Rewrite Radio: Scott Hoezee, a noted preacher himself and the director of the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary, conducts a wide-ranging interview with Fleming Rutledge. Fleming Rutledge is an Episcopal priest and...
02.27.2019
#36: Afaa M. Weaver 2018
On today’s Rewrite Radio, independent scholar Sarina Gruver Moore talks with author Afaa Michael Weaver about how his journey took him from factory work to a Fulbright and ultimately to a professorship and an established writing career--and the spiritual practices...
02.13.2019
#35: Jacqueline Woodson 2004
On today’s episode, a look back to 2004 when the 2018 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jacqueline Woodson, visited the Festival. As we listen back to the 2004 Festival, we hear Jacqueline Woodson consider how her upbringing, including her family’s...
01.30.2019
#34: Jamie Quatro & April Ayers Lawson 2018
Today’s episode of Rewrite Radio features a conversation between the writers April Ayers Lawson and Jamie Quatro, hosted by Amy Frykholm. Titled “Sex, the Spirit, Short Stories, and South,” this conversation takes up the complicated work of writing about religious...
01.16.2019
#33: Kathleen Dean Moore 2010
On today’s Rewrite Radio, Kathleen Dean Moore, a philosopher and nature writer, proposes that the art of spiritual nature writing is to explore unfathomable ideas—mystery, astonishment, sanctity, despair—in the plain language of ice and frogs, returning stars, bells, birdsong, and...
01.02.2019
#32: Gary Schmidt 2006
In Rewrite Radio Episode #32, Gary Schmidt discusses the ethical implications of using memories in fiction at the 2006 Festival of Faith & Writing. Gary Schmidt’s novels, though set as far back as 1730, often include moments and scenes from his...
12.12.2018
#31: Pádraig Ó Tuama & Marie Howe 2018
On today’s episode, Pádraig Ó Tuama and Marie Howe, in a conversation with Micah Lott of Boston College, discuss the political possibilities of poetry: to bear witness, to inspire the moral imagination, and to provide perspective on our neighbors’ lives...
11.28.2018
#30: Richard Rodriguez 2010
On this episode of Rewrite Radio from Festival 2010, Richard Rodriguez delivers the speech he rewrote after realizing that Festivalgoers really did want him to talk about the complexities of faith and class in his life as a writer. Starting...
11.14.2018
#29: Surprised by Joy: Poetry about Faith & Happiness 2018
In Rewrite Radio Episode 29, Anya Silver and several other poets discuss the landscape of joy amidst suffering in their personal and public lives. Joy, distinct from happiness, can be a form of religious practice. They explore questions regarding what...
10.31.2018
#28: Luci Shaw remembers Madeleine L'Engle with Madeleine's granddaughters 2018
As an editor, mentor, and friend, Luci Shaw has enjoyed deep creative partnerships with many writers, perhaps none so special as her relationship with the late Madeleine L’Engle. Despite differences, the two animated each other’s work in important ways. They...
10.31.2018
#27: Madeleine L'Engle 1996
Madeleine L’Engle reflects on her life and the “cosmic” questions that have guided her writing. Why do bad things happen? Why do people die? Why? Weaving stories of hurt knees and publisher rejections with the realities of marriage and the...
10.17.2018
#26: Kwame Alexander & Nate Marshall 2018
In this episode, Billy Mark, Kwame Alexander and Nate Marshall engage in a conversation about the power of poetry for children and young adults. Because of particular systemic and social issues within the literary communities, it can be difficult for...
01.05.2018
#25: Season 1 Review: How Stories Help Us Navigate Life's Difficulties
Episode 25 of Rewrite Radio features a collection of excerpts from our first season of the podcast, curated and edited together by our creative director Jon Brown. He’s teased out a conversation between Festival speakers through the years about the power of...
12.22.2017
(Rewind) #10: Frederick Buechner 1992
Episode 10 of Rewrite Radio features one of the oldest recordings in our Festival archive, Frederick Buechner speaking at our gathering in 1992. Frederick Buechner’s books—fiction, essays, sermons and more—have been translated into 27 languages and he has often been...
12.08.2017
#24: Katherine Paterson 2004
Today’s episode of Rewrite Radio features Katherine Paterson at the 2004 Festival of Faith & Writing. In this talk she discusses how and why she finds meaning in the midst of life’s chaos, the comforts and challenges of art, and...
11.24.2017
(Rewind) #5: Patricia and Alana Raybon 2016
Episode 5 of Rewrite Radio features Patricia and Alana Raybon on the power of the pen to bridge a deep divide. They talk about writing UNDIVIDED: A MUSLIM DAUGHTER, HER CHRISTIAN MOTHER, THEIR PATH TO PEACE and the truths, troubles,...
11.10.2017
#23 Barbara Brown Taylor 2004
Episode 23 of Rewrite Radio features Barbara Brown Taylor at the 2004 Festival of Faith & Writing. In this talk she discusses writing for the ear and the difference between what she calls the language of belief and the language...
10.27.2017
(Rewind) #6 George Saunders 2016
Episode 6 of Rewrite Radio features George Saunders in an on-stage conversation with Calvin College English professor Lew Klatt at the 2016 Festival of Faith & Writing. A critically acclaimed author of essays, short stories, and now his first novel,...
10.13.2017
#22: Shauna Niequist 2016
Episode 22 of Rewrite Radio features a conversation with Shauna Niequist at the 2016 Festival of Faith & Writing. Shauna was interviewed by Ansley Kelly, a Calvin College senior at the time, and their wide-ranging conversation includes claiming the authority...
09.29.2017
#21: Irina Ratushinskaya 1998
Today, we have something a little different in store for you. Russian poet, author and activist Irina Ratushinskaya passed away earlier this summer, and as we dug into the Festival archives, we knew we wanted to celebrate her life and...

What's Rewrite Radio about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Rewrite Radio episodes:

#67 Virginia Stem Owens 1994

#66 Thomas Lynch

#65 Clare Vanderpool

#64 Jennifer Trafton

#63 Diane Glancy and Sefi Atta

#62 Jeff Zentner

#61 Brady Udall

#60 Anbara Salam

#59 Gloria Pinkney

#58 Mitali Perkins

#57 Helena Maria Viramontes

#56 Doris Betts

#55 Dan Taylor

#54 Emma Green

#53 Luis Alberto Urrea

#52 Eugene Peterson 2010

#51 Carlos Eire 2008

#50 Jen Hatmaker 2018

#49 Lee Smith 1996

#48 Walter Wangerin 2000

#47 Festival of Faith & Writing Retrospective 2022

#46: Season 2 Review: Stories As Service

#45: Elie Wiesel 1998

#44: Nikki Grimes 2018

#43: Will Campbell 1990

#42: Yann Martel 2008

#41: Marilynne Robinson 2006

#40: Abigail Disney & Dorothy Fortenberry 2018

#39: Li-Young Lee 2004

#38: Rabbi Sandy Sasso 2018

#37: Fleming Rutledge 2018

#36: Afaa M. Weaver 2018

#35: Jacqueline Woodson 2004

#34: Jamie Quatro & April Ayers Lawson 2018

#33: Kathleen Dean Moore 2010

#32: Gary Schmidt 2006

#31: Pádraig Ó Tuama & Marie Howe 2018

#30: Richard Rodriguez 2010

#29: Surprised by Joy: Poetry about Faith & Happiness 2018

#28: Luci Shaw remembers Madeleine L'Engle with Madeleine's granddaughters 2018

#27: Madeleine L'Engle 1996

#26: Kwame Alexander & Nate Marshall 2018

#25: Season 1 Review: How Stories Help Us Navigate Life's Difficulties

(Rewind) #10: Frederick Buechner 1992

#24: Katherine Paterson 2004

(Rewind) #5: Patricia and Alana Raybon 2016

#23 Barbara Brown Taylor 2004

(Rewind) #6 George Saunders 2016

#22: Shauna Niequist 2016

#21: Irina Ratushinskaya 1998