Coming to the Walking on Water Conference next month? Let me introduce you to our generous host and co-sponsors: All Angels Church, the artistic faith community on the Upper West Side. The church’s site is perfect for the conference for a few reasons. One, it’s where Madeleine worshiped during the last years of her life […]

By RuthAnn Deveney When I was a senior in high school, a friend in my English class told me, “I found something at a yard sale over the weekend, and I got it for you. You like Madeleine L’Engle, right?” The question was more of a formality than out of necessity; in my circle of […]

Dear Ones, Take it from this bibliophile/ school librarian: Veera Hiranandani’s book, The Night Diary, needs to be one of your next-reads. This 2019 Newbery Honor Award winning book is set during a tumultuous time in India’s history, told through letters written by a girl to her deceased mother. I found it powerful and moving, as did […]

Dear Ones, Last month, PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program announced the creation of the L’Engle/Rahman Prize for Mentorship. As part of that program’s month-long reading series, the September 16th event featured the performance of the prize-winning writers’ works, and also a dramatic dialogue I arranged from the letters Madeleine exchanged with Ahmad Rahman […]

Madeleine insisted, “The largest job of the artist is to listen to the work.” This listening is one of the ways, she believed, that we become co-creators with God. But, practically speaking, what does it mean to listen to what the work is trying to express or be? How do artists in various mediums allow […]