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Festival of Faith & Writing 2006

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Norbert
May 04 2005
12:42 pm

I was excited to see that Alice McDermott will be attending the 2006 festival. I was floored to see that Salman Rushdie will be there as well. I thought he was still in hiding. Was he given the all clear when the Iyatollah died? Still no word about Solzhenitsyn. I’d like to see Tony Kushner. I requested him after the last conference. Does anybody have any connections and know who they’ve invited who was not willing to come and speak for one reason or another?
Are other *cino people planning to attend?

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mrsanniep
May 04 2005
10:59 pm

I also heard the author of “Gilead” will be there. Has anyone read this book? It’s on my list.

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Norbert
May 04 2005
11:04 pm

I never heard of it. What’s it about? Who wrote it? Have you ever been to one of those conferences Anne?

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mrsanniep
May 06 2005
03:09 pm

Gilead is by Marilynne Robinson. She comes from Iowa. It’s only her second book, but it’s received rave reviews in the NY Times and National Review. Check out Amazon for a plot synopsis.

I’ve never been to the writer’s conference at Calvin, but several of my friends go every year and rave about it.

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laurencer
May 06 2005
04:38 pm

I split this discussion of the upcoming FFW 2006 conference from the older discussion in an effort to maintain clarity.

I just wanted to mention that Grant reviewed Marilynne Robinson’s [i:dda1e9f7c2]The Death of Adam[/i:dda1e9f7c2] in the Tuning In issue of [i:dda1e9f7c2]catapult[/i:dda1e9f7c2]. She looks very interesting and I’d also be interested in hearing from her.

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kristinmarie
May 08 2005
01:33 am

I just read Gilead a few weeks ago…very good. I would highly recommend it, especially to anyone who grew up in a rural, religious community—I had a vivid mental picture of the town/people/actions described in the book. Beautiful writing…

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sunkentreasure
Feb 25 2006
06:23 pm

I’m goin to the festival this year (I’m a Calvin student). I’m very excited about Rushdie and Robinson, but also about Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz, Through Painted Deserts) and Lauren F. Winner (Real Sex, Girl Meets God). They should add some youth and perspective to the festival.

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Norbert
Feb 26 2006
08:25 am

I’m taking a dozen students again this year which just adds to the excitement. I recently read Udall’s [u:81bd71bc12]The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint[/u:81bd71bc12] which was a fun read. I’m hoping to get Debbie Blue’s [u:81bd71bc12]Sensual Orthodoxy[/u:81bd71bc12] for my birthday. Has anybody read that?

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Jason Panella
Feb 27 2006
01:31 am

I think I’m going to try to go this year— I’ve put it off in the past, but the speaker roster is too tempting. Robinson’s "Housekeeping" is fantastic too, though definitely not for everyone. Winner is also a fun speaker— I saw her this past weekend.