Tag Archives: art

Qu4rtets: Makoto Fujimura and a A Response to T.S. Eliot in Word, Image, and Sound (Friday Feature)

Posted on February 21, 2020 by

I am reading Makoto Fujimura’s intricate, personal, and intelligent 2016 book, Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering. This book weaves Fujimura’s particular approach to Nigonga painting, “slow art” as he calls it, with Shūsaku Endō stunning novel, Silence, and … Continue reading →

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A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 128th Birthday #TolkienBirthdayToast

Posted on January 3, 2020 by

To celebrate Tolkien’s twelfthty-eighth (or eleventy-eighteenth) birthday on 3 January 2020, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo … Continue reading →

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The Gift (and Curse) of Asher Lev

Posted on October 28, 2019 by

The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Gift of Asher Lev is a lovely, evocative book. It is my first time reading the sequel to My Name is Asher Lev, which I … Continue reading →

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The Tolkien Film and the Problem of Beauty: Guest Blog at the Forefront Festival

Posted on May 17, 2019 by

I was very much struck by the recently released Tolkien biopic and tried to capture a few of my thoughts about it in my note from last week. I also received an invitation from the Forefront Festival blog to share … Continue reading →

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My Defiant Appreciation of the Biopic Tolkien

Posted on May 13, 2019 by

I live on the edge of the continent, on a small island in the North Atlantic. This “lonely island” I call home is more like Hobbiton than the majestic and magical sanctuary of Tol Eressëa of J.R.R. Tolkien’s early mythology. … Continue reading →

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Bono and Eugene Peterson on the Psalms and Art (Friday Feature)

Posted on November 2, 2018 by

Last week I wrote about the passing of Eugene Peterson and his impact on my spiritual and literary life. In particular, it was Eugene’s classes that led me to a recovery and reimagining of my vocation of writing and scholarship and … Continue reading →

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Why the C.S. Lewis and Friends Colloquium is Awesome: The Bit About Students

Posted on June 12, 2018 by

I have just returned from what remains for me the best conference I have ever experienced when it comes to engendering an atmosphere of support for emerging scholars while remaining critical on the material. Part of this is no doubt … Continue reading →

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