A Recap of the Festival of Faith & Writing 2012

Web Editor Ian David Philpot shares his experience at the Festival of Faith and Writing.

Last weekend I attended Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Writing in Grand Rapids, MI. This was my second time at the biannual conference. Both times I've attended I've been representing Relief, of which I am the web editor. This means that I spent a good amount of the conference at the Relief table in the exhibitor hall telling people about the journal and meeting people who we have published.

The sessions I saw were incredible! This is in stark contrast to my experience at AWP. Though I only went to four sessions (all on Friday), I couldn't have been happier with them. The first session was called "The Word Needs Flesh: Sex and Faith in Contemporary Writing" with John Estes and Amy Frykholm (a Relief published author). The second session was "From Page to the Screen: Adapting Novels and Short Stories for Film" with Scott Teems. The third was an interview of one of my favorite authors: Craig Thompson. The fourth and final session was Craig going through his graphic novel writing process. I ended the day at Calvin's art gallery where some of Craig's drawings were on display.

Here are some of the snippets that I took away from the sessions:

• "We're uncomfortable with our needs and our wants because they're selfish and we don't want to be perceived as selfish." —John Estes
• "The church can't make you holy any more a school can make you smart." —John Estes on self motivation
• "If you don't really look at pleasure, you can't have discipline over it." —Amy Frykholm
• "Our job as adapters is to attempt and theme—attempt to portray the author's intentions and sort out the themes to display to keep the audience interested." —Scott Teems
• "Once you've done something autobiographical, you've burned all your bridges and you're free to do whatever you want." —Craig Thompson on the creative freedom that opened up after writing Blankets
• "Because of the paper canvas, comics feel like a letter from the author." —Craig Thompson

I also had the opportunity to meet some new people who were very kind, entertaining, and nice from Antler, Rock & Sling (here's a picture a the awesome banner over their table), Word Farm, and many more. I also had a great time meeting some of the Relief staff I hadn't met before, like Jake Slaughter, Lyle Enright, Andy Koenig, and Tania Runyan. Our evening shenanigans were the best I've ever had at a conference, and I was sad that they had to come to an end. Great people.

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This blog post originally appeared on Ian's blog. Ian writes fiction, poetry, and music. He prefers tea to coffee, Coca Cola to Pepsi, and only eats yellow cake.

Sixteen (or so) Candles

Since this blog will publish on my birthday, I decided to make some wishes with it. Yes, I am aware that wishes made public supposedly won't come true. And yet, wishes kept captive in the inner-recesses of my addled mind go nowhere anyway, so I feel safe in putting a few out there. And yes, I am also aware that making my wish list public might be taken as a tad self-serving. That's because it is. And I'm ok with that.

Wish #1  This year, my 38th if you must know, I really hope to be found by a story that makes me feel so inferior I am compelled to write it. This is not because I have an inflated opinion of myself and my abilities. Rather, I want desperately to be stunned into the process of telling an amazing story that, for some reason or other, has not been told. I am convinced that it is not an artistic duty that drives story as much as it is the incumbent need to bear witness to the invisible.

Wish #2 Re: Wish #1 - Because so many stories worth telling get ignored for ones we've heard too many times before, my second wish is that anyone who ends up reading this blog will also be confronted with a story they must tell. If it happens, I'm hoping the candle I blew out with your name on it compels you to find the keyboard rather than think "Someone should really write about that."

Wish #3 Re: Wish #1&2 - Because the desire to write a story is the response we SHOULD automatically heed, my third wish is that all of us who commit these stories to prose actually seek their publication so we are not the only ones who get the opportunity to experience them. Instead, I wish for all of these stories to eventually be submitted to various publications (and no, this is not me shoe-horning in two wishes, Jafar). If you're not sure where to send the story you write, spend some time here.

Wish #4 And for my final wish, a little selfishness on my part (as if taking one more wish than the customary three is not selfish enough). I wish that all our stories find homes, bear witness, and inspire others to stand in the path of stories that will force them, in turn, to be witnesses themselves. 

So don't let me down people. It is my birthday and all.

Michael Dean Clark is the fiction editor at Relief and an assistant professor of writing at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. When he's not writing or parenting via shame and sarcasm, Clark is waiting (im)patiently for the return of Psych, and you know that’s right.

Reading Period Ends March 1st!

Just a reminder that the reading period for Relief 6.1 ends March 1st. Submit your fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, photography, graphic narrative, or images soon or we can't help you. Click the Submit tab above for more info.