Festival of Faith & Writing Nears

April 2, 2008 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: Some 2,000 readers, writers and lovers of words from across the
world will come to Calvin College on April 17-19 for the college's Festival of
Faith & Writing.

See the FFW Web site at www.calvin.edu/festival
For the list of plenary talks open to the public see
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engl/festival/conference/public-events.php

Novelist Michael Chabon, Yann Martel, author of the Life of Pi, and children's
author Katherine Paterson are among the constellation of novelists, poets,
playwrights, illustrators, screenwriters, memoirists, graphic artists and
others featured at the 2008 Festival of Faith & Writing, to be held April 7-19
at Calvin College.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Chabon, Man Booker Prize-winning Martel and
multiple Newbery Award-winning Paterson, all of whom will deliver plenary talks
open to the public, are good representatives of the depth of quality of the
festival roster, said director Shelly LeMahieu Dunn.

What makes the biennial event special, however, is the community that forms
when the authors and the attendees gather together.

"Many people talk about the festival as an oasis, and I think that's a really
appropriate metaphor," said LeMahieu Dunn. “Writing and reading are such
solitary activities, and the festival gives people a place to encourage one
another and to reflect a little bit about what it means to be a Christian, a
writer, a reader, and how to do those things faithfully."

Festival 2008 organizers have created multiple opportunities for featured
authors to spread the festival vibe both on and off campus, as various authors
meet with area high school students, partner with a local gallery, connect with
the staff of the college's service-learning center, and meet with Calvin
Russian literature, graphic novel and creative writing classes.

One such on-campus collaboration partners festival with the Calvin Theatre
Company, which will give several performances of Deborah Breevort's The Women
of Lockerbie. The play, structured as a Greek tragedy, is loosely based on the
true story of the women of Lockerbie, Scotland, who retrieved and washed the
clothes of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 and returned them to their
families.

Breevort will speak following each performance of the play and at a session
titled "Writing The Women of Lockerbie, from Inspiration to Completion," at 11
a.m., Saturday, April 19 in the Gezon Auditorium.

Another vital on-campus collaboration is Beauty of the Spirit, an exhibition
of the work of preeminent African American artist and illustrator, and festival
speaker, Kadir Nelson. The exhibition, which runs in the Center Art Gallery
from March 17 through April 19, showcases paintings from five of Nelson's
books.

Contact director Shelly LeMahieu Dunn at 616-526-8720

See the FFW Web site at www.calvin.edu/festival
For the list of plenary talks open to the public see
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engl/festival/conference/public-events.php

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Received on Wed Apr 2 08:51:50 2008