Issue #196 | June 16, 2010

Features
Spotlight on the Glen Online: Manuscript Tutorial and Critique
Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief
American Rendering by Andrew Hudgins
Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir by Stanley Hauerwas
For the Beauty of the Church by David Taylor

Gallery Watch

Message Board
Meet the International Artists of the Church of the Transfiguration
Study Iconography at the Living Waters College of the Arts
Comment Magazine Poetry Contest
Monastic Immersion: Gregorian Chant Retreat

ImageNews
Image Readings: Mary Kenagy Mitchell
Registration Now Open for Charleston Seminar with Bret Lott
Subscribe to Image in Print

Features

Spotlight on the Glen Online: Manuscript Tutorial and Critique

It would be magical indeed if, when stalled on chapter four of your novel in progress, you could dash off an email to Gina Ochsner and receive thoughtful editorial advice from the acclaimed magical realist writer whose novel the New York Times recently described as full of “startling, redemptive beauty.” Well, that fantastic scenario is now a reality for the members of Gina’s Fiction Tutorial course within IMAGE’s Glen Online writing workshop program—as well as for the nonfiction writers and memoirists in Paula Huston’s Creative Nonfiction Tutorial, and the poets in Dan Bellm’s Poetry Tutorial. This kind of editorial guidance can be hard to find without committing to an MFA program or making a significant investment in freelance editing; but the online format and the simple registration process (no application necessary) of The Glen Online’s tutorial and critique option allows for easy access to the kind of help and advice that can move a writer from progressing to publishable. We recently asked our tutorial instructors to tell us the most common piece of advice they give to writers they edit. Dan Bellm, author of Practice: A Book of Midrash, and our poetry instructor, advises writers to “read, read, read...and to read their own (and others') work aloud, especially as they dig in and revise drafts...the work has got to be heard.” Paula Huston (pictured here), our Creative Nonfiction instructor, tells her students to ask ‘What’s in it for the reader?’ to “snap things into clearer focus.” For both Bellm and Huston, editing is a collaborative process. “I see my work as a conversation with the writer, a dialogue,” says Bellm—and Huston finds that “almost every manuscript I read in some way draws my attention to my own writing, and consequently helps me improve. It's a bit like meeting a vibrant human being to whom we can't help being attracted, and realizing it's because he or she has a particular virtue we lack. Good writing always teaches.”

If you are interested in joining in on the creative dialogue, visit our web page here.

Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief

Readers of IMAGE will recognize Tony Woodlief for his devastating short story “Name,” set in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, an illustration of courage and gentleness in the face of brutality. The story appeared in issue 58 as well as in the IMAGE anthology, Bearing the Mystery, and received a special mention in the latest Pushcart Best of the Small Presses anthology. Woodlief has now written a book of nonfiction that shows the same graceful prose and emotional heft as his fiction—and surprisingly, the work is also unapologetically funny. Woodlief and his wife Celeste were high school sweethearts, both from train-wreck homes. Early in their marriage, their daughter Caroline was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and after extensive treatment she died at home, in her parents’ bed. With so many strikes against it, the marriage began to founder, prey to alcohol, distance, and infidelity. But Somewhere More Holy is not about all of that. It’s a book about aftermath, redemption, and home itself. The dark first chapter outlines those events—and all of them, especially Caroline herself, haunt the rest of the book. But as Caroline was dying, her mother was already pregnant with Stephen, the first of the Woodlief’s four sons. And it’s the four boys who give the book its shape, as they shape the nature of life in the Woodlief home. The chapters that follow are each about a part of the house—the doorstep, the living room, the dining room, the bathroom—and what happens there in a family with four young boys: the mess, the arguing, the laughter, the philosophical conversations that take place through the bathroom door while Dad is on the pot, a captive audience. Life in this house is earthy, homely, ridiculous, humbling, and for Tony and Celeste, is also a kind of a resurrection. An evangelical Christian, Woodlief writes with enthusiasm, earnestness, and a sense of personal confession—but he defies the stereotype that evangelicals favor an abstract kind of spirituality or have no room for tragedy. Caroline haunts every page. And though the book—like the family’s life—is helplessly, messily comic, thanks to Woodlief’s skill and sensitivity, the backdrop of loss is always felt.

To learn more about the book, click here. To own your copy, click here.

American Rendering: New and Selected Poems by Andrew Hudgins

In the poem “How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land,” Andrew Hudgins writes of his cousin’s daughter, “My cousin loves her with / the tenderness we save / for something that will ruin / our lives, break us, nail / us irretrievably / into this world, which we, / like good philosophers / had meant to hate.” This contentious relationship with the world, which Christians are taught to look beyond in hope of heaven, is at the heart of Hudgins’s work, as he depicts its frequent injustice, brutality, and sorrow, but still finds it all too beautiful to look away. American Rendering is Hudgins’s first retrospective collection, containing work from six previous volumes and including twenty-four new poems, together spanning a career of over two decades. His first published volume, Saints and Strangers, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1986, and includes poems from the point of view of the young daughter of an evangelical preacher who is sometimes victim to her father’s stern and unyielding belief (in “The Southern Crescent Was On Time,” she faints after playing twenty-two verses of “Just As I Am” during an altar call). Hudgins’s own voice can be so honey-sweet one is surprised to find it shot through with barbs of dark humor, yet he has a mockingbird’s tendency to assume the voices of others: Jonathan Edwards makes an appearance, as does a contemporary of Davy Crockett’s. Most affecting, though, is the sequence from After the Lost War: A Narrative, a series of dramatic monologues that detail the life and death of Georgia poet and Confederate soldier Sidney Lanier. These poems show Sidney as a child, blindly digging mudcats from riverbanks, as a soldier taking clothes from the bodies of enemies, as a devoted husband and father, and finally as a man who passes from this life to the next, “swaying in a changing wind that tousled, stung, caressed, and toppled me.” American Rendering is a careful selection of poems from a writer who leaves nothing out. Longtime fans will find this book a must-own gathering of their favorite Hudgins poems, while those new to his work now have the perfect introduction.

You can find work by Andrew Hudgins in many issues of IMAGE, beginning with issue 1. He is also included in Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of IMAGE. To purchase your copy of American Rendering, click here.

Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir by Stanley Hauerwas

“Writing is hard and difficult work because to write is to think. I do not have an idea and then find a way to express it. The expression is the idea.” Statements like this are usually made by creative writers, artists with words who work intuitively. These are not the sort of words you usually associate with theologians, but the theologian who uttered them is not your ordinary sort of theologian. He is, in fact, Stanley Hauerwas, of whom it can safely be said that he is “one of a kind.” More than most theologians these days, Hauerwas cares about words and narratives, so it is delightful to announce that he has finally written his own story in Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir. Of course, Hauerwas would probably take issue with the previous sentence because he does not believe that anyone can write one’s own story, full stop. One’s own story must include the stories of others—family, friends, and, yes, God. And that’s what we get here, beginning with an insight into what being a Texas bricklayer’s son has been like, especially when a child of the working class has been immersed in the privileged realm of academia for many decades. We learn a lot about the books he read and colleagues he’s learned from and debated, but the book never bogs down in pure theology. Humor and toughness are always present in Hauerwas’s writing, and they are on full display here. The stories are often punctuated by epigrammatic insights that might well be termed “zingers.” Such as: “I am not interested in what I believe. I am not even sure what I believe. I am much more interested in what the church believes.” “I slowly learned...that to be a Christian meant that you could never protect yourself from the truth.” Of a mentor he writes: “John was a Texan; he had little use for bullshit.” There’s so much more we can say, but we’re out of space. Suffice it to say that there ain’t no bull in this book.

Learn more here.

For the Beauty of the Church by David Taylor

In For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts, David Taylor explores territory familiar to IMAGE readers, this time from the perspective of a pastor longing to take his appreciation for religious art to the next level, weaving it into ministry leadership. He wonders how to impart what he is learning about faith and the artistic life in his role as shepherd and pastor. “I traveled haphazardly through my ecclesial tradition because I lacked a larger vision for art and the church,” he admits, and inspired by a culture conference in Austin, Texas, Taylor enlists the help of some of IMAGE’s most beloved essayists to tackle the question. Andy Crouch expounds upon art as "unuseful," that is, better than useful—a gift from God, not an achievement. The real challenge in encouraging art in the church, says Crouch, is not to make some technical adjustments, but to become “the kind of people who could be like Christ and take, bless, break and give where we are.” Lauren Winner grapples with the meaning of art patronage, and how art strengthens community and hospitality. “The energy around art is part of our birthright,” she reminds us, drawing on deft comparisons of scripture and historical aesthetic innovations. Eugene Peterson reveals how his friendships with artists, both within his congregation and without, have formed his pastoral vocation. “Everyone needs artists,” he says. “Pastors especially.” With a foreword by Luci Shaw and still more essays from other writers and artists such as Jeremy Begbie, John Witvliet, and Barbara Nicolosi, For the Beauty of the Church is a welcome addition to the library of pastors or anyone with a desire to get his or her church more involved in the arts.

Learn more here.

Gallery Watch

Message Board
Post here to reach thousands of readers interested in the intersection of art and faith. We welcome messages about job listings, local events, conferences, prizes, calls for papers, and more. Submit your messages by sending an e-mail here.

Meet the International Artists of the Church of the Transfiguration

On Saturday, June 12, master artists from around the world will gather at Rock Harbor, Orleans on Cape Cod, to take part in the 10th Dedication Anniversary of the Church of the Transfiguration. There will be several opportunities to meet the international masters who created the mosaic, stone and glass sculpture, change-ringing bells, and other elements of the Church of the Transfiguration. Tickets are $10 each lecture. For more information, call 508-240-2400 or visit www.churchofthetransfiguration.org.

Study Iconography at the Living Water College of the Arts

Living Water College of the Arts is offering an introduction to iconography. Join us for two weeks of learning the spirituality and technique of writing a traditional icon. The peaceful pastoral setting of Living Water College provides the perfect environment for the integration of faith, understanding, and skill; and students will return home with supplies, capable of continuing in the practice of iconography. The program runs from July 18 to 30, 2010. Applications are being received now through early July. Early bird price ends June 25. Please visit our website for more information.

Comment Magazine Poetry Contest

Calling poets! Comment Magazine's second-annual "Making the Most of College" poetry contest runs until July 1st, 2010. The question: How does a 21st-century education lead you to respond to a 19th-century visionary? Write a sonnet which interacts in some way with Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" —a refutation? an update? a round of applause? Imagine the poem afresh for university students 2010-11. Email your submissions to comment@cardus.ca by July 1st. First-place winner takes $100 CDN and the page 1 poem in our Fall 2010 print issue. Second- and third-place runners-up also get published later in the Fall Issue. Enter today!

Monastic Immersion: Gregorian Chant Retreat

Experience sacred time through learning and singing prayer services at set times of day. Join us July 16-18 at the beautiful woodland sanctuary of St. Andrew's House on Hood Canal, WA, for this heart-opening contemplative experience. We'll be singing Gregorian chant, pilgrim songs from Spain and Italy, and new songs to the Divine Mother as we celebrate Sacred Visions of the Madonna. The weekend includes an illustrated presentation describing miraculous encounters--experienced by individuals throughout history and around the world--with Mary and her message of encouragement to love, prayers, and coming into right action with the divine. To learn more about this Center for Sacred Art sponsored event, click here.

ImageNews -- The Scoop on Our Programs

Image Readings: Mary Kenagy Mitchell

Mary Kenagy Mitchell serves as Image's managing editor. Her short stories and essays have appeared in the Georgia Review, Image (issue 29), Beloit Fiction Journal, and the anthologies Not Safe But Good, Peculiar Pilgrims, and Bearing the Mystery. She graduated from Stanford University in English and German lit and holds an MFA in creative writing from Arizona State. She occasionally teaches a fiction writing workshop at Seattle Pacific University. Mitchell's short stories have been called "deft" and "compelling." She explores the nooks and crannies of individual faith within family boundaries, shedding light on the different ways we understand God but never stooping to easy caricatures. With a graceful hand, she lets her characters reveal truths about each other and themselves.

Listen to an excerpt here.

Registration Now Open for Charleston Seminar with Bret Lott

You are cordially invited to spend an extended weekend of lively discussion, contemplation, Southern cuisine, and outings to artistic and historic sites in Charleston's downtown with a beloved novelist as our guide. Next November, bestselling author Bret Lott (Jewel, Ancient Highway), will be joining us for an Image seminar in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. The theme for our time together is "Risking the Heart: Telling True Stories in an Age of Irony." Bret chose this theme because he believes that Story is an integral part of every human life, and that understanding stories, both our own and others’, teaches us how to live in the world. Besides reading from his own work, in both fiction and nonfiction, Bret will lead our group in daily discussions about the meaning and power of storytelling – how well-told tales help us to change, grow, and understand our lives. Drawing on the narratives of Scripture, we will explore how great literature is neither preachy nor ironic, but an opportunity for both writer and reader to risk their hearts for the sake of truth. For more information or to request a brochure, contact Dyana Herron by email at dherron@imagejournal.org or by phone at 206-281-2988. The brochure contains more details about our time together as we explore our theme, as well as the city of Charleston.

You can learn more and even download a PDF version of the brochure by clicking here. Register soon, because space is limited!

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If you like reading about great new art and writing inspired by faith in ImageUpdate, and you're ready to get down to reading and seeing the stuff itself, it's time to subscribe to Image. Each quarter our editors comb the world of art and letters to bring you our favorite new work--work that respects transcendent mystery as well as the gritty truth of the material world that bears the divine imprint. A one-year subscription gets you four beautifully produced issues delivered right to your door. Ninety percent of the journal's content is not available on our website, but only through what we call "the sacrament of print." Click here to get the magazine Terry Tempest Williams calls "evocative and inspiring" and Bret Lott calls "the most meaningful literary journal being produced today."

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