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 and the world around us. A poet, theologian, and group worker, Pádraig Ó Tuama is the leader of Corrymeela Community, an interdenominational church in Belfast dedicated to conflict transformation and church reconciliation. Ó Tuama has published and edited collections of poetry, essays, and theology, including Readings from the Book of Exile, Sorry for Your Troubles, and In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World. Working with groups in Ireland, Britain, Australia, and the United States, he leads workshops and retreats on storytelling, spirituality, and conflict resolution. The Poet Laureate of New York State from 2012 to 2014, Marie Howe has published four collections of verse. Her books include The Good Thief, which was chosen for the National Poetry Series by Margaret Atwood; What the Living Do, an elegy to her brother John, who died of an AIDS-related illness; The Kingdom of Ordinary Time; and Magdalene: Poems. Her poems have appeared in many publications, including the New Yorker, The Atlantic, Poetry, Ploughshares, and the Partisan Review. Howe has received fellowships from the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Columbia University, and NYU.Rewrite Radio is a production of the Calvin Center for Faith and Writing, located on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Theme music is June 11th by Andrew Starr. Additional sound design by Alejandra Crevier.You can find more information about the Center and its signature event, the Festival of Faith and Writing, online at ccfw.calvin.edu and festival.calvin.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 with an Elvis-singing taxi-driver in the Sinai and a Thanksgiving turkey blessed with a Hindu hymn, he unfolds his American story.Richard Rodriguez writes about the diversity of cultural and religious traditions in conversation—and in conflict—throughout our country and our world. The winner of a Peabody Award, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an Emmy, a Fulbright, and the Anisfield-Wolf Award for Race Relations, he is also the author of The Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. His other books include Brown: The Last Discovery of Richard Rodriguez, Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father, and Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography.Born in California to immigrants, Rodriguez is a journalist as well as a writer of memoirs. He has written regularly for several newspapers and magazines and has contributed to PBS’s NewsHour and reported for the BBC. A nominee for a Pulitzer Prize, he has also published work in Harper’s, Mother Jones, Time, and The American Scholar, among many others.Rewrite Radio is a production of the Calvin Center for Faith and Writing, located on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Theme music is June 11th by Andrew Starr. Additional sound design by Alejandra Crevier.You can find more information about the Center and its signature event, the Festival of Faith and Writing, online at ccfw.calvin.edu and festival.calvin.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 cheapens joy, how Christians view joy and how to “balance the scale” of joy and pain in writing.Rewrite Radio is a production of the Calvin Center for Faith and Writing, located on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Theme music is June 11th by Andrew Starr. Additional sound design by Alejandra Crevier.You can find more information about the Center and its signature event, the Festival of Faith and Writing, online at ccfw.calvin.edu and festival.calvin.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 coauthored three books—WinterSong, Friends for the Journey, and A Prayer Book for Spiritual Friends—and Luci suggested and then edited Madeleine’s seminal treatise on faith and writing, Walking on Water. Madeleine’s granddaughters, Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Léna Roy, have known Luci for years as a close friend of their family. Here they interview her about the role of community in the life of a writer and what it takes to forge and sustain friends for the long haul.Rewrite Radio is a production of the Calvin Center for Faith and Writing, located on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Theme music is June 11th by Andrew Starr. Additional sound design by Alejandra Crevier.You can find more information about the Center and its signature event, the Festival of Faith and Writing, online at ccfw.calvin.edu and festival.calvin.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 deaths of those she loves, L’Engle illuminates her commitment to writing and abiding faith in God. Opening introduction from Calvin professor Don Hettinga.Rewrite Radio is a production of the Calvin Center for Faith and Writing, located on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Theme music is June 11th by Andrew Starr. Additional sound design by Alejandra Crevier.You can find more information about the Center and its signature event, the Festival of Faith and Writing, online at ccfw.calvin.edu and festival.calvin.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 some kids to gain access to the sorts of books they want to read. They suggest poetry, as a form of activism today, can forefront voices that are normally not heard at the publishing “dinner table.” From spoken word, to vocabulary lessons, to balling on the court, Kwame and Nate explore what it means to dream differently as a “yes” person in this difficult, but ever transforming world.Rewrite Radio is a production of the Calvin Center for Faith and Writing, located on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Theme music is June 11th by Andrew Starr. Additional sound design by Alejandra Crevier. You can find more information about the Center and its signature event, the Festival of Faith and Writing, online at ccfw.calvin.edu and festival.calvin.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 stories to help us understand and navigate dark times. Jon also joins Festival director Lisa Ann Cockrel on the microphone for a look behind the scenes of production. Speakers in order of appearance in this episode:Frederick Buechner (1992)Katherine Paterson (2004)Brian Doyle (2012)Patricia and Alana Raybon (2016)Ashley Bryan (2016)George Saunders (2016)Ashley Bryan (2016)Barbara Brown Taylor (2004)Zadie Smith (2016)Tobias Wolff (2016)Frederick Buechner (1992)Kelly Brown Douglas (2016)

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 praised for his ability to inspire readers to see the grace in their daily lives. The London Free Press called him “one of our great novelists because he is one of our finest religious writers." He has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and has been awarded eight honorary degrees from institutions including Yale University and the Virginia Theological Seminary. In addition, Buechner has been the recipient of the O. Henry Award, the Rosenthal Award, the Christianity and Literature Belles Lettres Prize, and has been recognized by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.Joining us to talk about Buechner's 1992 talk, his first of two appearances here at Calvin, is Jennifer Holberg who, along with Jane Zwart, co-directs the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing. Jennifer is senior faculty in the English department at Calvin and editor of SHOUTS AND WHISPERS: TWENTY-ONE WRITERS SPEAK ABOUT THEIR WRITING AND THEIR FAITH, a collection of interviews and essays gleaned from past Festivals. She was introduced to Buechner’s work through her good friend, colleague, and former Festival director(1992-2004)Dale Brown, who can be heard introducing Buechner to the assembled audience as well on the recording.Many thanks to Frederick Buechner and the The Frederick Buechner Center. You can learn more about Buechner's life and work at www.frederickbuechner.com. And you see everything the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing is up to, including producing this very podcast, at ccfw.calvin.edu.

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 also the vital importance of teachers. Katherine Paterson is the author of more than 30 books, including 16 novels for children and young people. She’s won countless awards including the Newbery Medal for both Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved and National Book Awards for The Great Gilly Hopkins and The Master Puppeteer. For her body of work she received the Hans Christian Andersen Award and in 2000 was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.To help introduce this recording we snagged Gary Schmidt, an English professor here at Calvin College and our own resident award-winning author. He’s twice received a Newbery Honor, for both The Wednesday Wars and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. All told, he’s written more than 15 books for children and young adults including Okay for Now a finalist for the National Book Award and In God's Hands, a picture book he co-authored with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, that was a runner-up for a National Jewish Book Award. His most recent project is a short story told from the perspective of Yoda in the anthology Star Wars from a certain point of view.

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, and triumphs of co-authoring when the collaborators are struggling not just to write a book, but to reconcile their deepest difference.ALANA RAYBON is the co-author of UNDIVIDED: A MUSLIM DAUGHTER, HER CHRISTIAN MOTHER, THEIR PATH TO PEACE, along with her mother, Patricia Raybon. Raybon writes and teaches middle school in Tennessee.PATRICIA RAYBON is a journalist and the author of four books,including the memoirs I TOLD THE MOUNTAIN TO MOVE, a finalist for Christianity Today’s 2006 Book of the Year, and MY FIRST WHITE FRIEND, which won the Christopher Award. Her most recent book is UNDIVIDED: A MUSLIM DAUGHTER, HER CHRISTIAN MOTHER, THEIR PATH TO PEACE, co-written with her daughter Alana Raybon.