More than Meets the Ear or the Eye

Poetry, Theology, and Art from North Wales via a Special R.S. Thomas Festival

Susan Fogarty, director of the R.S. Thomas & M.E. Eldridge Festival in Aberdaron, shares highlights of the upcoming Festival with The Seminary Explores. Both the poet-priest and the artist were prolific, wise, talented and steeped in rural realities. First held in 2014, the Festival has featured distinguished speakers including Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. The 2021 Festival will be held live online in association with Church Times on June 19.

View a virtual exhibit of the "Dance of Life" mural. Also see the Millennium Center text in Welsh and English from Gwyneth Lewis.

The Counterintuitive Power of Wonder in a Pandemic

Mark S. Burrows joins The Seminary Explores to talk about his recent teaching on wonder and its significance in a pandemic – with some Mary Oliver and Rachel Carson in the mix. Burrows has taught at graduate theological schools in the U.S. and Europe, most recently The Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Germany. His Ph.D. and M.Div. are from Princeton Theological Seminary. An historian of medieval Christianity, his research and writing have focused on those creative minds among the mystics, visionaries, and poets who often found themselves living and working at the margins of Christianity.

West Virginia Author and Poet Laureate Marc Harshman

West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman joins Katy Giebenhain for a conversation about writing and reading and the iconic influences on both from Falling Water and the Asphodel Bookshop. Harshman holds degrees from Bethany College, Yale Divinity School, and the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of 14 children’s books including The Storm, a Smithsonian Notable Book, and eight collections of poetry including his latest, Woman in Red Anorak, Lynx House Press/University of Washington. He is, most recently, co-winner of the 2019 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award.

Many thanks to our host site for this interview, Waldo’s and Co. on the Square in Gettysburg and Facebook

Having Difficult Conversations by First Listening

Carla Christopher, a student at United Lutheran Seminary and a former Poet Laureate of York, Pennsylvania, talks about how we can have difficult conversations around challenging topics by creating a safe space where people can engage with one another and feel safe to be human. Conversations about race, diversity, and a gender can be difficult, but there are resources available to help any group or organization, no matter how small, to begin to share their life experiences with one another.

Learn more about Carla at carlachristopher.com and communityartsink.org.

The Importance of Memory, Community and Sandburg’s Cool Tombs

Gettysburg National Military Park artist-in-residence Rick Stark reflects on who we choose to memorialize, contemporary and Civil War poetry, moral injury, nature and what it is like to be a military veteran living on the Battlefield for four weeks which include the famous first week of July.

Rick Stark and Chris Lauer examine hand made paper for Rick's poetry.

Where Have All the Good Hymns Gone?

Rev. Dr. Mark Oldenburg, Professor of the Art of Worship, Dean of the Chapel, United Lutheran Seminary (Gettysburg), and hymn writer refutes the notion that good hymns aren’t written anymore and cites numerous resources online and in print. Recent hymnody has been enriched by music from the southern U.S. and by “world music” (especially Africa). He plays and discusses two examples of his own hymns, the first of which was declared the best new hymn of 1988.

From the Desert to the Peach Orchard

During her residency, Tucson-based writer Julie Swarstad Johnson will be working on poems inspired by stories of pacifist faith communities around Gettysburg before, during and after the time of the battle, with a particular focus on the experiences of the Sherfy family (owners of the Peach Orchard). Her own practice as a member of Mennonite and Quaker congregations will add perspective to the historical role these communities. It is an opportunity to understand examples of pacifism and faith in American public life. She took time from her research, writing and explorations for a conversation with Katy Giebenhain about her project. The author of Jumping the Pit by Finishing Line Press, Swarstad Johnson is a Library Specialist at the University of Arizona Poetry Center.

Julie Swarstad Johnson will give a free public poetry reading March 3rd at the Gettysburg NMP Museum and Visitor Center at 3:00 p.m.
The event is sponsored by a grant from the Gettysburg Foundation and other generous sponsors. For more information about the event call 717-334-1124.

Thanks to our host site for this interview, Waldo’s and Co. on the square in Gettysburg.

Signs of Safety

Social-justice poet Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the first “Poets in the Park” artist-in-residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park. She stopped by the Gettysburg campus of United Lutheran Seminary for a conversation about her evolving collection, her experience as a desert aid worker on the U.S.-Mexico border, hobo markings, Tarot card prompts and more.

A Conversation with the Early-rising, Prolific Author Gary Fincke

A Masterwork of Doubting Belief: R.S. Thomas and His Poetry

When it comes to poet/priests, R.S. Thomas is about as good as it gets. This Seminary Explores conversation includes insight into his relevance and the brilliant tensions in his work by John McEllhenney, author of A Masterwork of Doubting Belief: R.S. Thomas and His Poetry.

For more information on the R.S. Thomas Literary Festival visit: http://www.st-hywyn.org.uk/rst.html