No. 13
CONTENTS
Essays
On Writing
Gina Bria
If, as writers we are always seeking a secret reader, we must but be surprised to
find someone writing back to us: God. Even our most idle thoughts, when written
down can reveal a cry of the heart, a hidden communion with the Other that
constitutes writing as prayer.
Southern Literature
Caroline Langston
When asked, "Why is there so much good Southern literature?" Walker Percy
answered, "Because we lost the war." In the past forty years, Southern writers
have gone beyond the categories of defeat and loss to create a literature that is
universal in its preoccupations. Caroline Langston, through her examination of
contemporary Southern writers, uncovers the blood-ties, self-revelation--and
humility--that are the hallmarks of all great literature.
Stopping by Woods
Thomas Becknell
The woods are not only a place for recollection and inspiration; under the
scrutiny of some of America's finest writers, they also serve as a metaphor for
the cosmos. In this survey of pastoral authors from James Fenimore Cooper to
Annie Dillard, we see the woods as a dim mirror reflecting our own
unfathomability and our hunger for beauty in a harsh and mysterious world.
Studies
The Awkward Blessing
Jack Clemo and the Poetic Vision of Faith
Stephen A. Woolsey
Blind and deaf from an early age, Jack Clemo labored through the course of his
life to redeem, through poetry, the devastated landscape of his Cornwall
childhood. Stephen Woolsey recounts the trials, sorrows, and ultimate blessing as
Clemo moves from the isolation of his affliction to the finding of his heart's
true desire.
Grits and Grace
Flannery O'Connor's Strange Alliance with Southern Fundamentalists
Ralph C. Wood
Flannery O'Connor frequently found amusement in newspaper accounts of the snake
handlers, tent revivalists, and Holy Rollers of her native Georgia. Yet, as an
orthodox Catholic she discovered that she had far more in common with her
fundamentalist neighbors than with the theological liberals she encountered in
the high literary circles of the 1950s. Written with a hard-won faith, O'Connor's
stories never failed to illuminate the intersection of the mundane and the
supernatural.
Being Human
Dorothy Sayers on Vocation and the Feminine
Jennifer H. Disney
If we live in a world where God is no longer recognized as one who calls us to
serve, Dorothy Sayers observed, then how can work be other than a curse? How can
we say we have a "calling" if there is no one there to call? In this study,
Jennifer Disney contrasts the philosophies of gender and vocational roles
espoused by Sayers with those of psychologist Mary Pipher.
The Mars Hill Interview
Traveling Mercies
A Conversation with Anne Lamott
Katherine Kellogg Towler
Anne Lamott has garnered a large, devoted following for her witty, irreverent
books about faith, writing, and childrearing. Interviewed during a recent tour to
promote her bestseller, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, Lamott
acknowledges that she is too outrageous for the evangelical and too preoccupied
with Christ for the liberal camps. In this conversation, at turns hilarious and
deeply poignant, Lamott discusses the steps which led to her conversion and the
joys and trials of being a single mother.
Reminders of God
The Writing Life
Fiction
1973
James Vescovi
Nonfiction
Yardwork
Kevin Heath
Taking God up on the Dinner Invitation
Dale Wayne
Poetry
Part of Eve's Discussion
Marie Howe
From "The Pre-Luciferian Cantos"
Otto Osip Ochs
Monk's Journal
George Slanger
The Burden and the Glory
Philip Sueper
Pine Nuts
Judith Gillis
Good Friday
Joy Sawyer
Views and Reviews
Music
Essay: All Summer Long:
The Beach Boys and the Nostalgia for Paradise
Douglas Thorpe
Reviews: Mermaid Avenue, Billy Bragg and Wilco
Jefferson Garn
Love Thinketh No Evil, Peter Himmelman
Dave Urbanski
No Mermaid, Sinéad Lohan
Douglas Thorpe
Music Also Reviewed
Douglas Thorpe
Books
Essay:
The Garden of Good and Evil
Jon Hassler's Chronicles of Life in Minnesota
Ed Block
Reviews:
The Healing Power of Stories
Daniel Taylor
Going All the Way, Don Wakefield
Scott Sawyer
The Gifts of the Jews, Thomas Cahill
David W. Frauenfelder
A Certain Justice, P.D. James
Ralph C. Wood
Books Also Reviewed
Sheryl Cornett
Film
Essay: Beloved: A Fine, Fine Film:
So Why Did It End up in the 99-Cent Bin at Blockbuster?
Barbara Hiles Mesle
Reviews: A Civil Action
Jon Wallace
The Horse Whisperer
Scott Emmert
Films Also Reviewed
Joey Earl Horstman
Risvolti
Timeless graffiti from the broad canvas.
Compiled by James Vescovi
Mars Hill Contributors
