American literature

August 21, 2014

Bellow on the Freedom and Nature of the Soul

I’m slowly working my way through James Atlas’ biography of Saul Bellow, and I came to the section where Saul Bellow returns to his birthplace in Lachine, Quebec, for the dedication of the municipal library in his name. Continue Reading...

May 30, 2014

Maya Angelou And Her Lessons On Living A Life That Matters

Like many people, I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Maya Angelou this week. Her voice – both her speaking voice and her literary one – were unique, rich and resonant. Continue Reading...

January 07, 2014

When Bellow Met Chambers

You may have heard that Ayn Rand really disliked C.S. Lewis. But do you know what happened when Saul Bellow met Whittaker Chambers? Continue Reading...

October 30, 2013

Poet Christian Wiman: Getting Glimpses Of God

Former editor of Poetry magazine Christian Wiman struggles, like many of us, to make sense of suffering and faith. His struggle is poetic: God goes belonging to every riven thing. He’s made the things that bring him near, made the mind that makes him go. Continue Reading...

October 18, 2013

Drawing Attention To God’s Thumbprint In The World

Every artist, whatever the medium, is a pale example of our Creator God, and the best artists know that. James Lee Burke, whose novels are full of violence and glimpses of evil, seems to be an unlikely candidate for drawing attention to “God’s thumbprint” in our world, but he consciously does just that. Continue Reading...