Magical Memoir Moments

The Festival of Faith and Writing: A Feast of Flowers and Words

By Shirley Showalter | April 17, 2010

The Dutch know how to grow tulips–and writers! Every two years the good folks at Calvin College put on a Festival of Faith and Writing that attracts thousands of readers and hundreds of writers. And what a good time we have! This year’s headliners included Wally Lamb, Richard Rodriguez, Parker Palmer, Eugene Peterson, and Mary…

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Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: An "Old Mennonite" Review

By Shirley Showalter | November 21, 2009

When I read Rhoda Janzen’s Mennonite in a Little Black Dress late at night, the bed posts shook. I had to choke back gargantuan guffaws in order not to wake my Mennonite husband. The last time that happened, I was reading Bill Bryson’s The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Before that, David Sedaris, Michael…

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