[Editor’s note: Thanks to JRVWS intern Claire Buck for this post.] As winter ices the sidewalks and coats the campus in snow, it’s the perfect time to come in from the cold and gather around good literature. This semester’s Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series promises community, conversation, and a lineup of diverse and talented authors …
Continue reading “JRVWS Preview: Guadalupe Garcia McCall and Marcel “Fable the Poet” Price”
By VWS Intern Claire Buck (’22) The days are getting shorter, the tests are piling up, and everyone around me is becoming increasingly dependent on caffeine to power through the day. You can feel it in the air: we’re approaching the finish line of the fall semester. Before classes wrap up, though, we’ve got one …
By Bill Moreau Why do we do the Big Read? According to the National Endowment for the Arts, “The NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Showcasing a diverse range of themes, voices, and perspectives, the NEA Big Read aims to …
Continue reading “Big Read Lakeshore 2021: Joy Harjo, United States Poet Laureate”
2007 Alumnae Kristin Brace is a poet and author of two chapbooks and a full-length collection. Her most recent publication, Toward the Wild Abundance, was selected for the 2018 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize. Her work draws inspiration from nature, visual art, family history, dreams and memory. She lives in West Michigan, and references to the region appear frequently …
Continue reading “Hope Alum and Visiting Writer Kristin Brace: “Pay Attention. Look Closer.””
Shea Tuttle is the author of Exactly as You Are: The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers and co-editor of Can I Get a Witness? Thirteen Peacemakers, Community Builders, and Agitators for Faith and Justice. Her essays have appeared at Greater Good Magazine, The Toast, The Other Journal, Role Reboot and Jenny. She is a …
Continue reading “Hope Alum and Visiting Writer Shea Tuttle: “Poetry Might Save You.””
English Department alumnus Matthew Baker (2009) is still on a roll. His new story collection, Why Visit America, was named one of Esquire‘s “20 Must-Read Books of Summer 2020” and received a starred review from Booklist, which wrote: “Bold, captivating, and deeply relevant, Baker’s imaginative stories offer approachable, optimistic perspectives on morally ambiguous topics facing …
Continue reading “Alumnus Highlight: “Why Visit America” author Matthew Baker (’09)”
As Marcelo Hernandez Castillo dug through the photo gallery on his phone, searching for a picture of his son, I realized that the thin man who sat before me didn’t quite match my idea of the poet I had envisioned behind Cenzontle. The beautiful and surreal lyrics Castillo weaved through his 2018 book had prepared …
by Keri Haddrill & Claire Buck Snow and ice are threading their way into the atmosphere here in Holland, Michigan. That means it’s the season to curl up with a good book (or five), so let’s agree to only venture out from our Hobbit-holes, magical treehouses, or bedrooms under the stairs for bookstore runs and …
This Tuesday, 10/1, the Hope campus will experience a double homecoming. Today we catch up with memoirist, essayist, mentor, award-winner, and former Hope professor Heather Sellers. Come see her, along with former Hope student Mira Bartók, at the upcoming Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series event, plus two additional events! (Details below.) Professor Sellers, you’re well-remembered …
Continue reading ““What can I learn?”: An Interview with Heather Sellers”
The glow of summer is fading and fall is preparing to blanket the campus, which means that once again we’ve arrived at a new semester… and new season of the Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series (JRVWS)! We’ve got a great mix of books and authors this fall, from middle grade fantasy to historical fiction. You …
