By Jeffrey Overstreet
If I invited you to accompany me to a conference on the art of writing, and learn from such esteemed Christian writers as Philip Yancey, Luci Shaw, and Richard Foster, would you join me?
What if I told you it only cost twenty bucks to attend?
Here’s your invitation: I’m inspired by a new book called A Syllable of Water: Twenty Writers of Faith Reflect on Their Art (Paraclete Press, 2008), and I think you’ll enjoy it too. It contains all the nourishment of a life-changing conference on faith and writing, including perspectives on poetry, prose, creative nonfiction, memoirs, and plays; recommended reading lists; and a meditation on what it means to be a Christian and a writer.
Syllable, edited by the celebrated spiritual writer Emilie Griffin, springs from the shared expertise of The Chrysostom Society—a community of writers who have collaborated and encouraged each other for nearly 25 years. The book includes contributions from Philip Yancey on journalism, Luci Shaw on poetry, Richard Foster on spiritual writing, Scott Cairns on poetry, John Wilson on relationships with editors, Diane Glancy on playwriting, and more by Dain Trafton, John Leax, Rudy Nelson, Keith Miller, Erin McGraw, Doris Betts, Virginia Stem Owens, and William and Emilie Griffin.
Emilie Griffin says she believes Syllable will give readers the same kind of encouragement that Chrysostom Society members offer one another. “It’s inevitable that writers will seek each other out,” she explains. “The Inklings—C.S. Lewis and Tolkien and the others—were a wonderful example of how fruitful that is. Even though some of the other writers were fairly obscure, they all turned out books and encouraged each other…in wartime, in depression times, in lean times.”
During today’s hard times, writing might seem a waste of time. But in her essay on journal-keeping, Shaw writes that “crisis times” can be rewarding opportunities for writers. “… [U]nless we achieve a kind of deep honesty with ourselves as flawed, broken people, I’m not sure that we can write with the authenticity that will reach other people where they need to be reached.” (Shaw also offers practical advice—like which kind of notebook will survive the writer’s vigorous use.)
Musing on the daily discipline of writing, Harold Fickett considers how “writing, when undertaken rightly, can assist in our own redemption.”
“We tried to keep a tone of voice that is light-hearted and fun to read throughout the book,” says Shaw. “We’re writing about writing, and we’re trying to appeal to readers in any particular context—religious or not—about good writing and how to go about it.”
“You’ll see how idiosyncratic the writers are,” says Griffin. Does she have a favorite? No, but she’s currently excited about Erin McGraw’s chapter on fiction. She gleefully confides, “I have a secret life where I write fiction on the side. And it enlivens me to read what’s in this book.”
Jeffrey Overstreet, our guest reviewer, is an author, blogger on art, faith, and film, and member of the Chrysostom Society. Jeffrey will be speaking at a Laity Lodge Writers’ Retreat scheduled for next fall (details forthcoming).
[This is a revised version of an article previously published in Seattle Pacific University’s Response magazine.]
