Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, On Being a Christian - Hardcover

Lott, Bret

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1433537834 ISBN 13: 9781433537837

Publisher: Crossway, 2013

Synopsis

Writing is both a significant and intimate activity. Acclaimed novelist Bret Lott reflects on his life as a writer through five essays exploring everything from the importance of literary fiction to the pain of personal loss.

About this title

About the Author:

Bret Lott (MFA, University of Massachusetts) is the New York Times best-selling author of more than a dozen books including Jewel, an Oprah Book Club selection. From 1986 to 2004 he was writer-in-residence and professor of English at the College of Charleston, leaving to take the position of editor and director of the journal The Southern Review at Louisiana State University. In 2007, he returned to the College of Charleston, where he currently teaches. He serves as nonfiction editor of Crazyhorse, and is a member of the National Council on the Arts.

Review:

“Letters and Life is nothing less than an invaluable gift to the body of Christ. Let no serious believer who aspires to serious writing neglect to read it and to be encouraged, instructed, and blessed by it. A wise, wonderful, and desperately needed primer on what it means to be a genuine Christian writer and artist.”
―Eric Metaxas, New York Times best-selling author, Miracles and Bonhoeffer

“Like all great storytellers, Bret Lott is a bridge builder: his characters cross into our lives and help us know ourselves more truly. In this lively collection of essays, Lott is determined to bridge another gap―the sometimes uneasy tension between the world of literary fiction and the broader community of faith. Along the way, he demonstrates that reading literature, far from being an elitist indulgence, is at once deeply pleasurable and a transformative spiritual experience.”
―Gregory Wolfe, editor, Image; author, Beauty Will Save the World

“Bret Lott has dared to write an impossible book―a serious and candid set of meditations on what it means to be a Christian writer living in a secular society that neither respects nor even understands his faith. I can hardly imagine a more difficult topic or a more necessary one. Letters and Life has the courage to explore a question at the heart of contemporary culture: How do we reconcile the spirit and the imagination?”
―Dana Gioia, poet; former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts

“Bret Lott is one of America’s finest writers and editors; this book reveals him to be one of our greatest mentors to writers of faith, as well. Letters and Life brims with wisdom and advice to all who bear the call toward an authentic journey of a writer. It is a gift for all readers who desire to know more about the creative process and to infuse their creativity into their lives.”
―Makoto Fujimura, Founder, International Arts Movement and Fujimura Institute; artist; author

About this edition

• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1433537834
• ISBN 13: 9781433537837
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192