April 2013
8 posts
Convocation address at Sewanee, on Isaiah →
Marilynne Robinson delivered the convocation address at Sewanee: The University of the South on Friday, January 18. Her address begins at the 16:20 mark.
Robinson’s subject, modest as always, is the book of Isaiah, ans she opens with this line:
I will tell you something you are not likely to hear elsewhere: You live in a wonderful time, in a wonderful country.
Thanks to one of our readers for...
Gilead remixed in poetry →
The Found Poetry Review celebrates the poetry in the existing and everyday. National Poetry Month 2013, FPR has created a ‘Pulitzer Remix’ project, in which 85 poets are writing found poetry from Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction novels.
Poet Cari Oleskewicz is working with Marilynne Robinson’s novel Gilead, and will create 30 found poems from the text by the end of the month. It’s a cool project;...
What We May Be →
One of our readers points us to a short article by Marilynne Robinson, originally from the June 2011 issue of Harpers but reprinted with permission in The Christian Courier, on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.
Her remarks on the KJV, its language, and its origins are both humorous (“The Bible is much thumped and little pondered”) and perceptive:
“These days the Bible seems to be...
Why True Generosity Is an Act of Courage →
If you’re like us, you’ll be greatly surprised to read “Marilynne Robinson” and “Oprah” in the same sentence, but here we go: Marilynne Robinson wrote an article for O, The Oprah Magazine on generosity and courage, and its stark autobiographical vulnerability is absolutely worth your time — no matter your opinion of its context.
Robinson begins with a somber story about a cat, a bird, and a...
A Reformation Sunday sermon →
One of our readers points us to a powerful sermon by Marilynne Robinson, preached on Reformation Sunday 2009 at her home church, the Congregational United Church of Christ of Iowa City.
She begins by giving the historical context of the Reformation and our present-day Protestant churches as heirs to its legacy. Drawing on Ephesians (the verses are not given, but presumably Ephesians 2:8–10), she...
Wisdom and Light →
Another bit of Scriptural commentary from Robinson in The Christian Century, this time on John’s prologue and the commentary surrounding it in the Jewish Annotated New Testament:
“The incarnation is rooted at the most fundamental level in the act of creation.”
Our thanks, once again, to one of our generous readers.
Living By the Word →
My colleague Rev. Chandler Stokes preached a wonderful Easter sermon at our church this year on John 20:1-18. One of our readers points us to commentary from Marilynne Robinson on this very text, which appeared in The Christian Century last Easter. It is, as you might imagine, full of wonderful insight.
During our staff meeting this week, we again read vv. 16–17, in which Mary Magdalene...
The Resurrection of the Ordinary →
A wonderful, lengthy interview, described as a “literary conversation on the resurrection of the ordinary,” between Marilynne Robinson and Paul Elie of Farrar, Strauss and Giroux (her publisher) at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University.
Our thanks to Brad Davis for the tip.
March 2013
5 posts
Marilynne Robinson, Hero →
So, this morning I Googled my own website, because I am THAT LAME, and I came across this very nice response to MR’s Calvin appearance last spring. It’s by Jerome Stueart, a gay Christian and writer of fantasy/SF who felt, understandably, that he was reporting from hostile territory. I can speak to another side of Calvin College. It was the place where I learned that there were...
CTI on Public Radio →
The Center of Theological Inquiry (you kind of wish they’d change it to the slightly less presumptuous Center for …, but whatever) hosted an entire symposium last October in tribute to John Templeton, the investor, philanthropist, Presbyterian church elder, Princeton Sem trustee, and … uh, as of 1964, guy-who-renounced-US-citizenship-so-he-could-reduce-his-tax-bill who founded...
Transcript: The Mystery We Are →
As if we needed another reason to love public radio, bougie totebags and all: Here are Robinson and astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser having a mutually respectful exchange of views. Whatever you think of Robinson, you’ll certainly be ready to read Gleiser’s books by the time you’re done reading. Hat tip to one of our readers.
Image Journal Interview with Robinson by Jen... →
One of our readers found this excerpt from an interview conducted with Robinson last spring, on behalf of Image, by Jennifer Holberg, who ushers Calvin College English majors through the nineteenth-century Brits.
Marilynne Robinson ‘By the Book’ →
The Sunday New York Times has a ‘By the Book’ interview with Marilynne Robinson. Among the highlights, this beautiful quote:
A wonderful writer has given the best of herself or himself in the work. I think many of them are frustrated by the thinness and inadequacy of ordinary spoken language, of ordinary contact even with the people they know best and love best. They turn to writing for this...
February 2013
2 posts
Hallowed Be Your Name →
Update: Regrettably, the original source link at The Free Library was taken down. We’ve been unable to locate another source, although JStor offers it for a free registration or with JStor access (check your local library!).
___
With her characteristic flourish and captivating insight, Marilynne Robinson sketches a vivid invigoration of the liberal Protestant vision in this essay.
The liberal,...
Reader question: Which Robinson novels are...
From New Zealand, home of great post-punk bands (the Bats! the Clean! Look Blue Go Purple!), a great question: Which of Robinson’s works have been translated into French?
I didn’t know another way to go about answering, so I tried Amazon.fr. I found the novels, but no nonfiction. (You could still buy the nonfiction from Amazon.fr, but it wasn’t translated. The French reading...
January 2013
2 posts
Marilynne Robinson shortlisted for the Man Booker... →
Marilynne Robinson has once again been shortlisted for the biennial Man Booker International Prize, having been previously shortlisted in 2011 also. The Man Booker includes a £60,000 award, but more importantly, is increasingly considered one of the world’s top-tier literary awards.
The 2013 field includes ten authors, of which Robinson is the most high-profile, and one of only three...
The new novel: Not in 2013? →
We’ve been keeping our ear to the ground about the new novel from Marilynne Robinson we told you about last year. Yesterday, The Millions published its list of “most-anticipated” novels for 2013, and no entries from Marilynne Robinson appear on the list.
While this doesn’t mean with certainty that a new novel from Robinson isn’t coming this year, The Millions has been pretty reliable about...
December 2012
3 posts
Call for papers on Marilynne Robinson’s fiction →
Rodopi Press, an independent journal publisher from Europe, has issued a call for papers on Marilynne Robinson’s fiction, as part of its Dialogue Series on contemporary authors:
The Rodopi Press Dialogue Series seeks proposals for new writings to be included in a volume of critical essays devoted to Pulitzer-prize winning author Marilynne Robinson’s fiction with specific emphasis on the novels...
Our God-Haunted World →
A lovely Robinson sermon, for the December 16 Lectionary Year C readings, posted at Journey With Jesus. Most compelling use of Zephaniah from the pulpit that I’ve ever heard.
October 2012
1 post
Little Village interview with Marilynne Robinson →
Little Village, a news and culture magazine in Iowa City (where Marilynne Robinson calls home) has a wonderful interview conducted by Andres Carlstein in anticipation of a talk given by Robinson at Iowa City’s Englert Theatre.
We love author interviews, and this one is no exception. For example, in response to why Robinson finds reading the Bible compelling:
I was attracted to it because when I...
September 2012
3 posts
Marilynne Robinson papers to be housed at Yale →
Good news, or great news? Charlotte Parker, writing for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University:
The Yale Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library has acquired the papers of Pulitzer-prize winning author and essayist Marilynne Robinson.
The post details what’s included in the collection. Additionally, the catalog description...
Small, good things →
In the Department of Things I Wasn’t Expecting, the Paris Review posts a lovely essay about the sacraments, and writing, and writing as sacramental, etc., and of course they have to talk about Gilead. Because they’re not stupid, the Paris Review.
Day 36 of ‘90 Days, 90 Reasons’ →
The website 90 Days, 90 Reasons is an independent site in support of Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. Each day leading up to the November election, the site runs an essay by a notable public figure, giving a reason for why they support Obama.
The entry for Reason 36 was written by Marilynne Robinson. Robinson has written favorably about Obama before, and the admiration goes both ways: Obama...
August 2012
1 post
The First Church of Marilynne Robinson →
After an extended hiatus, we’re back, and we have a lot to catch up on. We return with an oddly-titled but convincingly-argued essay by Mark O’Connell from The New Yorker’s Page-Turner section. It’s a short piece that neatly explains the aesthetic and spiritual appreciations that permeate Robinson’s writing:
Marilynne Robinson has published only three novels in a career spanning more than thirty...
April 2012
5 posts
Brief update
We’ve been too busy going to Marilynne Robinson events at the Festival of Faith and Writing to update the site today, but we’ve been to two lectures today, and they have both been amazing. We’ve been live-tweeting snippets from them over at our Twitter page (http://twitter.com/MRASociety).
What Is Truth, and How Do We Recognize It? →
The title here is not rhetorical, but rather the title of a recent address by Robinson to her own church, the Congregational United Church of Christ of Iowa City.
UCCIC describes the lecture as the first in a series of “the congregation’s new science and religion initiative made possible by Scientists in Congregations, a program funded by a grant from the Templeton Foundation.” How wonderful to...
United We Bicker? →
Another sharp review of When I Was a Child, this time by the wonderfully named Judy Lightfoot (who must have spent the ’70s enduring “Where’s Thunderbolt?” jokes, and also, impromptu renditions of Gordon Lightfoot songs). (I sympathize. My last name is Christman, easily turned into the exasperated and exasperating “Christ, man!”, and my poor mother’s name...
Choosing to see
A nice note from David Vardeman, a former student of Robinson’s who stumbled (or tumbld) upon the blog. He writes: I remember many things she said in passing, and for some reason I most fondly recall her saying, “The desire to see someone as beautiful is often promptly rewarded.” The discussion had centered on the effect of will or willingness on observation.
This is certainly...
“The main point of the narrative [of Easter] is that God is of a kind to love the...”
– an Easter excerpt from ‘Wondrous Love’ in When I Was a Child I Read Books.
March 2012
10 posts
Mapping essays in the new book
Many of the essays in the new book When I Was a Child I Read Books have been previously published, albeit in adapted or abbreviated form, to which we’ve previously linked.
The following is a map of the essays as they’re titled in the new book with correspondence to their earlier publication (along with links to our posts on them, where applicable).
‘Freedom of Thought’: Published as ‘Reclaiming...
Yet more reviews of ‘When I Was a Child I Read...
The reviews continue coming in for ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books’. Some good ones in here, including from the beloved Books and Culture:
National Post: ‘Open Book: When I Was a Child I Read Books, by Marilynne Robinson,’ reviewed by Philip Marchand.
Books and Culture: ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books,’ reviewed by Wesley Hill.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ‘Provocative essays castigate...
Marilynne Robinson and Hymns to the Miracle of... →
One of the better responses we’ve seen to When I Was a Child … comes from Kristen Scharold, who uses the book as an opportunity to offer a synoptic reading of Robinson’s whole body of work, essays and fiction alike. I’ve tried to do that and it’s kinda hard, so, you know, hats off, Kristen.
Marilynne Robinson is just such a rain—warm and rare—on the literary terra of...
Culture After the Credit Crunch →
Robinson was published in The Guardian yesterday with a shorter, edited form of ‘Austerity as Ideology’ from the new book, which also appeared last November as ‘Night Thoughts of a Baffled Humanist’ in The Nation. Far be it from us to complain about any of her essays — especially this one — being printed and reprinted far and wide.
My first thought was, “But why in a British newspaper?”,...
Marilynne Robinson’s humanist Calvinism →
Though he won’t admit to it, MRAS co-curator Phil is an extraordinarily talented writer. Thus, when he published a thoughtful review of Marilynne Robinson’s Absence of Mind a few months ago, it flew under the radar of the very Marilynne Robinson site he curates.
No more.
Phil’s review takes thorough account of the presence of John Calvin in Marilynne Robinson’s work, and, prefiguring a knowledge...
More reviews of ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books’
A few more reviews of the new book:
Washington Monthly: ‘Calvin vs. Hobbes,’ reviewed by Benjamin J. Dueholm.
The London Evening Standard: ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books: Essays - review,’ reviewed by Claire Harman.
The Kansas City Star: ‘Pulitzer winner Marilynne Robinson lays down her beliefs in a series of enlightening essays,’ reviewed by Kevin Canfield.
New York Journal of Books: ‘When...
Reviews of ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books’
Happy new Marilynne Robinson book day! ‘When I Was A Child I Read Books’ lands on bookstore shelves today. A few reviews for the book are already out:
The Millions: ‘Thinking Again: Marilynne Robinson’s When I Was a Child I Read Books,’ reviewed by Alex Engebretson.
The Houston Chronicle: ‘Review: Marilynne Robinson’s When I Was a Child I Read Books,’ reviewed by Maggie Galehouse.
The Guardian:...
A Common Faith →
An essay from Guernica (her first appearance there that we’re aware of) in which Robinson again levels the deck guns at unexamined arguments of her intellectual contemporaries and the broader culture. Even David Brooks gets name-dropped.
She begins with an analytical autopsy of free-market economics — particularly the libertarian kind that seems powerfully in vogue and woefully unchallenged:
...
Festival of Faith and Writing →
A reminder: Marilynne Robinson will be a plenary speaker at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan next month.
Registration for the Festival is now open.
The Festival runs from April 19-21, and is always a wonderful event. This year is no exception: Robinson will be joined at the festival by Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud...
Imagination and Community →
One of the hallmarks of Robinson’s essays is her method of arriving at one topic by way of an entirely different one. She employs the technique well in this fine essay from Commonweal, which is yet another exempt from When I Was a Child I Read Books.
Robinson begins with an admission that she owns more books than she will likely ever read. Fellow bibliophiles will join my sigh of relief that we...
February 2012
2 posts
Willow Springs interviews Marilynne Robinson →
For Christmas, my wife’s parents pre-ordered me a copy of ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books’ from my friends at the wonderful Literary Life Bookstore.
“Oh, I have something for Christian!” exclaimed Zachary, LitLife’s resident poet. Knowing that the book wouldn’t release for another four months, he handed my mother-in-law a bound copy of Willow Spring’s 58th issue to wrap up. “I’ve been saving...
Reclaiming a Sense of the Sacred →
Another fine essay from the forthcoming book ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books.’ Wonderful prose is to be found throughout (as you’ve come to expect), even on the topic of a rat in a psychology lab, for goodness sake:
“Bribery was, of course, central to the experiment and no black mark against either of us, though I must say, mine was an Eliot Ness among rats for its resistance to the lure of,...
December 2011
1 post
Risk The Game: On William James →
Awesome piece on William James from The Nation, almost a year old, that Christian and I somehow missed.
November 2011
4 posts
Happy birthday to Marilynne Robinson!
Happy birthday to Marilynne Robinson. To a writer whose prose and insight have helped shape our vision of the world, we raise our glass and wish her a wonderful day of celebration and many good things to come in the year ahead, including the new book. Cheers!
(And speaking of the new book: We’ve heard that advance review copies began arriving in mailboxes this week. Look for reviews to start...
Rowan Williams on Marilynne Robinson →
We likely needn’t say anything more than the title.
There are two possibilities here: Either you deeply admire the work of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, or you’ve never listened to the man speak. If the latter, may we kindly recommend his prefacing remarks about the royal wedding, which include this fine discussion about marriage?
“It’s a commitment that says. ‘Actually, I’m...
The Fourth Novel
The bestest of news: Marilynne Robinson has a fourth novel in the works.
She made the announcement to a gathering at the Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College back in July. Here’s what she had to say:
“I have actually started another novel, and it’s a sort of revered tradition in this setting to read from new work, and I’m not going to do it.” *laughs* “You all want my novel to live, so...
Night Thoughts of a Baffled Humanist →
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007, he began by saying, “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” Walter Isaacson, in his recent biography about Jobs, notes that, “In a career of dazzling product presentations, this may have been his best.”
So too how we feel about today’s entry. In this month’s issue of The Nation, Marilynne Robinson...
October 2011
4 posts
Prevenient Courage →
Robinson talks to the brilliant Jason Byassee about the radical potential hidden in mainline Protestant history. Hat tip to our friend Meg Jenista.
Marilynne Robinson: Fiction as metaphor "extended" →
Cool Q&A from the Salt Lake Tribune. Hat tip to Mark Athitakis on Twitter.
Marilynne Robinson at the 2012 Festival of Faith...
I suppose we’ve been sitting on this piece of news long enough: Marilynne Robinson will be a speaker at the 2012 Festival of Faith and Writing.
The Festival is near and dear to our hearts because it is put on by our alma mater, Calvin College. The Festival lineup is wonderful, as always. Rather than us gushing about each of the speakers, go see the full lineup for yourself.
Robinson was last at...
