Issue 9

Contributors

Dale Brown , who conducted the interview with Garrison Keillor in this issue, regularly conducts interviews with many of the nation's leading writers. Brown is a professor of English at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

James Lee Burke is one of America's leading detective novelists, author of the best-selling series of seven novels focused upon the ex-policeman-turned-detective Dave Robicheaux. The soon-to-be-published eighth novel in this series, Burning Angel, is excerpted in this issue. Burke has published four other critically acclaimed novels and a collection of short stories.

Robert Cording has published work in many leading literary journals. He has also published two collections of poetry, Life-list and What Binds Us to This World. His poems in this issue will be part of a new book, Heavy Grace, to be published this year by Copper Beech Press.

Deborah Joy Corey 's first novel, 1994's Losing Eddie, has been greeted with critical acclaim. Her writing has appeared in such magazines as Mademoiselle, Story, and Ploughshares. Born and raised in Canada, she divides her time between Maine and New Brunswick.

Maclin Horton is the assistant editor of Caelum et Terra, a quarterly dealing with issues of faith and society. As well as writing poetry and essays, he is working on a novel and a series of science fiction stories.

Mark Jarman 's latest collection of poetry, Questions for Ecclesiastes, will be published by David R. Godine Press in 1995. His collection, The Black Riviera, won the 1991 Poets' Prize. Jarman teaches at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Garrison Keillor hosts and writes for the hit radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, and has become the nation's favorite story teller and humorist. He is also one of America's best-selling fiction writers.

Denise Levertov is one of America's leading poets. The author of more than twenty books, her most recent publications include the poetry collection Evening Train, and New and Selected Essays .

Frederica Mathewes-Green has published a book, Real Choices: Offering Practical, Life-Affirming Alternatives to Abortion, and is a national correspondent and columnist for World magazine. She is on the editorial board of Regeneration Quarterly and serves as a contributing editor for Christianity Today's new periodical Books and Culture .

Kathleen Norris wrote the 1993 best-seller Dakota , which describes her spiritual journey back to Christianity and her geographical move—with her husband—from New York City to South Dakota. She has published two collections of poetry, Falling Off and The Middle of the World. Her new book of poems, Little Girls in Church, is being published this spring by the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Michael O'Brien , a Canadian painter and writer, received much encouragement from William Kurelek in the early years of his artistic career. His essay in this issue is excerpted from his unpublished book about Kurelek. O'Brien lives with his wife and six children near Combermere, Ontario.

Thomas R. Smith has published two collections of poetry, Keeping the Star and Horse of Earth. He has edited two books, Walking Swiftly , a festschrift for Robert Bly's sixty-fifth birthday, and What Happened When He Went to the Store for Bread , a selection of the poems of the Canadian poet Alden Nowlan.

Christine Tachick is a 1994-95 Milton Center Post-Graduate Fellow. She received her M.A. in creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As part of the Milton Center Fellowship, she is completing a collection of stories entitled Learning to Polka .

Dan Wakefield 's books include Returning: A Spiritual Journey and New York in the Fifties . His essay in this issue is an excerpt from his soon-to-be-published book, Expect a Miracle: The Miraculous Things that Happen to Ordinary People.

Richard Wilkinson is the managing editor of Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion . He has written several books and has worked for ten years as a magazine editor and free-lance writer.