A deep well of practical and inspirational wisdom for every Christian writer
Imagine you have the chance to spend an hour or so alone with a couple of well-published writers. Imagine they share with you secrets of their art, and reveal how their art relates to their faith. This is the experience awaiting you with the twenty-two authors of this book.
In A Syllable of Water, some of today's leading writers of faith reflect on all aspects of the writing vocation and process in ways that will inform and inspire.
Philip Yancey, Richard Foster, Luci Shaw, and others discuss everything from the tools of a writer to the ways that they spend their time when they are not writing.
Editors such as John Wilson (Books & Culture) and American Book Award-winning Cherokee poet, Diane Glancy, reflect on the value of the editor-writer conversation, as well as the power of revision.
And other writers of stature including Doris Betts, John Leax, Erin McGraw, Harold Fickett, Virginia Stem Owens, Jeanne Murray Walker, Scott Cairns, and Eugene H. Peterson offer sage advice on how to approach nearly every imaginable genre from fiction and nonfiction to memoir, poetry, and translation.
Editor Emilie Griffin is the author of several books, including Small Surrenders, Doors into Prayer and Wonderful and Dark is This Road. She is a founding member of the Chrysostom Society, a group of distinguished writers who meet periodically to discuss matters of faith and writing.
| Members of the Chrysostom Society, Christian writers from varied denominations offer essays on aspects of the writing life and craft. While pieces in such collections tend to vary in quality, the lineup of prominent contributors- including Scott Cairns, Philip Yancey, Luci Shaw, Richard J. Foster, Virginia Stem Owens, Diane Glancy, and John Wilson- turn this book into a valuable resource for aspiring writers. It addresses the usual beginners' issues (keeping a journal; research; over-coming writer's block), but the strongest section, on literary genres, yields keen insights on poetry, drama, journalism, the short story and memoir, rounded out by a rather surprising two essays on the art of translation (including one by Eugene Peterson, author of the popular Bible paraphrase The Message). The resources for further reading by each contributor are excellent. Most of the insights are applicable to all good writing, and Christian readers may find that the essays don't engage as deeply with the intersection of faith and writing as they might wish. But these writers' love for their chosen art and craft is contagious. |
| Publisher's Weekly |
| August 2008 |
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