Religious Faith and Literary Art

Thursday, February 24

12:30 p.m.

Popular Fiction

• N.V. Cherkas, Ivan Franko Lviv University, Lviv, Ukraine: Allusions to Religious Wars in R. Bach's Novel ONE
• Linda Kraeger, Grayson County College: John Grisham: Baptist Beliefs Lead to Bestsellers

Sermoneers and Storytellers

• Joe R. Christopher, Tarleton State University: The Christian Aspects of Melville Davisson Post's Uncle Abner Stories
• Joe E. Barnhart, University of North Texas: A Twentieth-Century Jonathan Edwards
• Kirk Layton, University of Wales-Lampeter: Gordon/Connor: Religious Fiction

American Women Writers

• M. Christine Tata: Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Ink: Feminist Theology and Nineteenth-Century Novels
• Rory C. Dicker, Vanderbilt University: Healing the Wounds of the Nation: Feminized Faith in Elizabeth Stuart Phelp's The Gates Ajar
• Renee Graves, University of Memphis: A Kingdom of Heaven on Earth: Christian Socialism Within the Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Panel Discussion: Toward a New Christian Fiction

• Diane Glancy
• Al Haley
• Greg Garrett
• C. Michael Curtis

Readings

• Barbara Pinkerton: Fiction
• Mark Ewy, Baylor University: Fiction
• Brenda Pitts: Fiction

Pastoral Workshop

• John Ballenger: Reclaiming the Aesthetic: Art and Worship

1:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Lise Goett and John Jenkinson: Reading

2:00 p.m.

Theology, Philosophy, and Criticism

• William Tate, Campbell University: Post-Barthian 'Secular Parables' and Postmodern American Fiction
• Amadeep Singh, Duke University: The Post-Secular Nose: Religious Difference and the Territories of the Body
• Susan Colon, Florida State University: Origin Myths and Serpentine Women: A. S. Byatt's Reinscription of Milton

Drama

• Bruce Chabot, Texas A&M University: Auto-Baptism and the Anti-Messiah: Herald Loomis in August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone"
• Joseph D. Stamey, McMurry University: The Gospel According to Tennessee Williams
• Martha D. Greene, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Neither Jew nor Greek: Race in Twentieth-Century Biblical Drama

Southern Fiction

• Gregory Stewart, University of Texas--Dallas: Resemblance in the Image and Likeness: Contemporary Southern Fiction and the Influence of Popular Culture
• Nancy Gidden, Texas State Technical College: Home Again: Southern Writers and Place
• Patricia G. Bleicher, Arlington, Virginia: Walker Percy and Moses the Preacher: Reading God's Signs as Evidence

Readings

• Russell Hogg, Baylor University: Fiction
• Barbara Sherrod, Fort Collins, CO: Fiction
• Steve Wallin: Nonfiction

Pastoral Workshop

• Randall O'Brien, Baylor University: The Conversion of the Imagination: Storytelling as Creative Preaching

Panel Discussion: Writing for Literary Journals

• Jeff Lawrence, Communique
• Donna Walker-Nixon, Windhover
• Greg Wolfe, Image

Public Presentation

• William Virgil Davis: Reading

3:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Elizabeth Cox: reading

3:30 p.m.

Theology, Philosophy, and Criticism

• Mike Kraftson-Hogue: Giver, (1) Giving, Gift, (2) Giving: Marion and Augustine on God and Hermeneutics (Predication turning to praise)
• Alberto Carrillo Canan, Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Mexico: Kierkegaard's Amphibolous Conjunction of Joy and Sorrow and His Literary Theory
• Peter Lecouras, Coastal Carolina University: From S.T. Coleridge to Paul de Man: Symbol and Allegory in the American Century

Mary and Mary Magdelene

• Rebekah Hamilton, Univ. of Texas-Pan American: Modern Literary Portrayals of Mary Magdalene
• Laura Bajor, Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars: Two Marys (plus poetry)

Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and Religion

• Candace Beinstock: Papa Can You Hear Me: Anti-Semitism in The Sun Also Rises
• Bryan Lipscom: The Void of Religion in The Sun Also Rises
• Brenda Cornell: "You've a Hell of a Biblical Name, Jake": Biblical Characters in The Sun Also Rises

Pastoral Workshop

• Stan Denman, Baylor University: Dramatic Literature, Scripture, and Ministry

Panel Discussion: The Internet for Writers

• Helen Ginger
• Lila Guzman
• Susan Rockhold

Master Class: Poetry

• John Jenkinson: Love from Another World: The Sheep Child and You

4:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Joni Rodgers: Reading

5:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Diane Glancy: Reading

7:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Mark Noll: Religious Surprises, Ironies, and Conundrums in Twentieth-Century America

Booksigning: Joni Rodgers

8:30 p.m.

Public Presentation/Film Screening

• Willie Varela: Images of (Tortured) Spirituality in Modern Cinema

Public Presentation

• Ethelbert Miller: Reading

10:00 p.m.

Open mike poetry

Friday, February 25

8:30 a.m.

• Manuscript consultations

Workshop

• Joni Rodgers: Creative Nonfiction

Public Presentation

• John Grisham

Public Presentation

• Ralph Wood, Baylor University: A Canticle for Leibowitz

2:00 p.m.

Nineteenth-Century British Poetry

• Susan M. Lymbery, Malaspina University-College of Nanaimo, British Columbia: Expectations within the Garden: Wordsworth's Margaret and Genesis' Eve in 'The RuinedCottage'
• David A. Matthew, University of Florida: Uncertain Future, Certain Body: Eschatology and Corporeality in Hopkins' 'The Wreck of the Deutschland'

Popular Culture

• Amy Collins, Wheaton College, and James Swan Tuite, Yale Divinity School: The Self to be Helped: An Analysis of the Anthropology in Religious and Secular Self-Help Literature in the United States, 1920-1940
• Becky Bridges Watts, Texas A&M: The Religion and Rhetoric of School Spirit: A Case Study of the Traditions of Texas A&M University
• Steven Jones, University of Virginia: Pulp Fiction, Christian Style

Evidence of Grace: The Poetry Of Walter McDonald

• Darryl Tippens, Abilene Christian University: 'Dark Pearls': Walter McDonald's Poetic Journey of Faith
• William Jolliff, George Fox University: 'Intimations of Higher Matters': Anagogical Closure in Walter McDonald's Burning the Fence
• Chris Willerton, Abilene Christian University: Perseverance in Walter McDonald's Poetry
• Helen F. Maxson, Southwestern Oklahoma State University: Forms of Incarnation in the Recent Poetry of Walter McDonald

Master Class: Fiction and Autobiography

• Fredrick Barton

Master Class: Prosody

• Jack Butler

Pastoral Workshop

• Scott Walker, First Baptist Church, Waco, TX: Writing and Ministry

Readings

• Steven Ostrowski, Sacred Heart University: Fiction/poetry
• Kelly Neel, Baylor University: Fiction
• Trent Masiki, Emerson College: Fiction

Public Presentation

• Roger Lundin: Hermeneutics and History in Faulkner

3:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Larry Allums: Conrad Kingsolver: Western Visions of Redemption for the Dark Continent

3:30 p.m.

Reading the Reader

• Sarah Winters, University of Toronto: Suspending Disbelief: The Atheist Reader and Christian Poetry
• Jacquelyn Saunders, Texas Christian University: "Will This Be the Death of Us?: Violence and the Reader in O'Connor's Fiction
• Chris Willerton, Abilene Christian University: Hypertext and the Christian Reader

Spirituality, Theology and Poetry

• Bruce Allen Heggen, Lutheran Ministry, University of Delaware: Robert Bly: The Theopoetics of Descent
• Ian Singer, University of Toronto: 'Slow Train Coming:' Bob Dylan's American Song Apocalyptic, 1960-2000
• Francesca Abbate, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukie: The Subversive Instant: The Authority of Poetic Languages

Fitzgerald and Cather

• Tom Reedy, Texas Christian University: The Deteriorization of Religious Faith in The Great Gatsby
• Jeff Keuss, University of Glasgow, Scotland: "I know myself and that is all": F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise" and the Role of Higher Education in Identity Formation
• Steve Ryan, Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial: Willa Cather: Charting Her Own Theological Course

Master Class: Humor

• Bob Darden

Master Class: Poetry

• Lise Goett: Conjuring the Sacred: Spells for the Creative Process

Panel Discussion: Characterization

• Elizabeth Cox
• Bret Lott
• Jack Butler
• Joy Jordan Lake

Pastoral Workshop

• Chris Seay, Ecclesia, Houston, TX: Narrative in the Postmodern Age

Readings

• Greg Koehler, Baylor University: Fiction
• Margaret Todd Maitland, Hungry Mind Review: Nonfiction
• Christina Hutchins, Pacific School of Religion: Poetry

4:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Marc Ellis: Fragments: Piecing Together a Jewish Life after the Holocaust

5:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Katie Singer: Reading: The Wholeness of a Broken Heart

7:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Religion and the Writing of Dreamer

Booksigning: Katie Singer

8:30 p.m.

Public Screening

• The Apostle, David Sterrit: Moderator

Public Presentation

• Jack Butler: Reading

Saturday, February 26

9:00 a.m.

Manuscript Consultations

Workshop

• : Barbara Sherrod: Writing Midrash

9:00 a.m.

Booksigning: Barbara Pinkerton

9:30 a.m.

20th Century Fiction

• Nurten Birlik, Middle East Technical University, Turkey: Catholicism and Graham Greene's Fiction
• Kristin Bryant, Case Western Reserve University: Constructed Identities and the Essential Self: Forms of the Self in Virginia Woolf's Orlando
• Andrew Spencer, Baylor University: "My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?": The Absence of God in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

The Beats

• Michael James Mahin, Claremont Graduate University: The Beats and Blasphemy: Lessons in Iconoclasm and the American Dream
• Matthew Theado, Gardner Webb: Beatniks and Beatitudes: Catholic and Judaic Influences on Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg
• Deshae E. Lott, Texas A&M University: Roadside Scribblings of Jack Kerouac and Natalie Goldberg: Celebrating Transciency with Writing as a Spiritual Practice

Film and Drama

• Madelon Sprengnether, University of Minnesota: C.S. Lewis and Shadowlands
• Martin Buxbaum, University of Vienna: The Drama of Religion

Spiritual Autobiography

• Roxanne Harde, Queen's University: "I consoled my heart": Conversion Rhetoric and Subjectivity in the Personal Narratives of Elizabeth Ashbridge and Abigail Bailey
• Deborah Lee Ames, Oklahoma State University: "We Live in Biblical Times": The Collision between the Autobiographies of Holocaust Survivors and the Canon of Sacred History
• James Rogers, University of St. Thomas: Feeling After God: Materiality and Mystry in Dennis Covington's Salvation on Sand Mountain

Communique Panel

• Leaving the American Century: Art, Literature and the Post-Christian Soul

Readings

• John Poch, University of North Texas: Poetry
• Jeffrey DeLotto, Texas Wesleyan University: Poetry
• Robert Fink, Hardin-Simmons University: Poetry

10:00 a.m.

Public Presentation

• Fredrick Barton: Arcing toward the Light

11:00 a.m.

Faith and Writing

• Thom Mannarino, Florida State University: Between Earth and Sky: Gay Writers on Faith
• Micah Jendian, San Diego State Unversity: William Saroyan's "mystical - Christian sensibilities"
• Christina Hutchins, Pacific School of Religion: Turning Open Language and Life: One Poet's Exploration of Poetry as Theological Reflection and Religious Experience

African-American Literature

• Anna Engle, Emory University: "It was a glorious resurrection, for the tomb of slavery": Frederick Douglass's Discourse of Conversion
• Emily Griesinger, Azusa Pacific University: Reimagining Grace: Holiness' Spirituality in Toni Morrison's Beloved
• Darren Middleton, Texas Christian University: Evil Breeds Sanctity, Dunghills Sprout Daisies: Theological Anthropology in Toni Morrison's Sula

Papa Hemingway at 100: Religious Elements in Hemingway's Writings

• Alexander Bouchev: Existential Themes and Religious Allusions in Ernest Hemingway's Works
• Larry Grimes: Papa's Big Two-Hearted Religion: Syncretism, Blasphemy, and Carnival, in Hemingway's True at First Light
• Sage Hamilton Rountree: The Clean, Well-Lighted Place in Hemingway's 'Homage to Switzerland'

Master Class: Representation and Publication

• Mark Ryan: How to Find Your Way out of the Writer's Wilderness and into the Promised Land of Publication

Panel Discussion: Creativity and Spirituality

• Ethelbert Miller
• Katie Singer
• Steven Ostrowski
• Carol Dawson

Writing, Storytelling, and Communication

• Ann Christian: The Gospel According to Marquee
• Christina Hutchins, Pacific School of Religion: Turning Open Language and Life: One Poet's Exploration of Poetry as Theological Reflection and Religious Experience
• Jennifer Curtis: Storytelling: An Ancient Vehicle Transporting Faith into 2000

Readings

• Sarah Woodrick, Baylor University: Fiction
• Marilyn Krysl, University of Colorado: Nonfiction
• Steve Weathers, Abilene Christian University: Fiction

Public Presentation

• David Sterritt: The Spiritual Impulse in American Avant-Garde Film

1:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• C. Michael Curtis: Writing about God

2:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Bret Lott: On Surrendering the Self and the Art of Writing

3:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Ethelbert Miller: African American Poetry and Spirituality

3:30 p.m.

Renaissance and Reformation

• Nefeli Misuraca, Yale University: Caravaggio: Teasing the Gods
• William Scheick, University of Texas: From Renaissance Drama to Puritan Heraldry

Eliot and Williams

• David Mahan, Rivendell Institute, Yale University: "New Verse" and the "High Dream": Faith, Culture and the Conditions for Poetic Excellence in the Thought of T.S. Eliot
• Michael M. Jordan, Hillsdale College: The First Principle of Culture and Community (T.S. Eliot)
• Ian Copestake, University of Leeds: William Carlos Williams and the Rutherford Unitarian Church and Society

Religious Pilgrimages in Hemingway's Work

• John Clark: Personal Religious Pilgrimages With Hemingway's Work
• H. R. Stoneback: Religious Pilgrimages in the Works of Ernest Hemingway

Flannery O'Connor Society Panel

• Robert Donahoo, Sam Houston State University: Chair
• Annette Moral, Carroll College: Somebody Ought to Blow the Lid Off: Flannery O'Connor's Fiction and the Catholic Understanding of Revelation
• Jacqueline Lauby and Joy A. Farmer, Reinhardt College: After the Revelation: Taking Responsibility for Spiritual Enlightenment
• E. Cayce Dumont, University of California, Davis: Flannery O'Connor and the Place of the Sublime: The Failed Journey of Self-Identification

Panel Discussion: Spiritual Autobiography

• Marc Ellis
• Dennis Covington
• Vicki Covington
• Marilyn Krysl

Readings

• Rebecca Munro, Baylor University: Storytelling
• Louise Collins: Liturgy Presentation
• Sarah Skwire, University of Chicago: Poetry and Prose

4:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Carol Dawson: Reading

5:00 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Dennis and Vicki Covington: The Problem of the Azure-Headed Jay and A Meditation for Bad Girls

8:30 p.m.

Public Presentation

• Greg Garrett: Reading

Sunday, February 27

10:00 a.m.

Christianity and Literature

• Scot Lahaie, Baylor University: Out of the Silent Genre: C.S. Lewis, Space Trilogy and the Great Genre Debate
• Richard M Owsley, University of North Texas: Thomas Mann's Holy Sinner and the Choice of Evil
• Cathie English, University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Community, Stability, and Daily Seeking God: The Role of the Rule of St. Benedict in Kathleen Norris' Writing

Readings

• Lyn Fraser, Mesa State College: Nonfiction
• Leonore Wilson: Poetry
• H.R Stoneback, SUNY-New Paltz: Poetry