On Books & Writing

Wondrous things can happen at Christmastime. And so it was that I found myself in deep conversation with the late Frederick Buechner just before Christmas. I wrote it down, and as it's probably relevant for many of us, I'm sharing it.

Star-gazing again, I'm pointing to one of the brightest in the cosmos of criticism: Steven D. Greydanus. I'd be hard-pressed to think of a critic who has had a more consistently inspiring influence on me over the last 20 years of my engagement with film and with film essays.

In this "Master Shot" episode of the Looking Closer podcast, Overstreet interviews animator, illustrator, and children's storybook author Ken Priebe about his three wild and whimsical books of wild, wacky, and scary characters.

If you are on the hunt for great books about writing, great books about teaching, great books about faith, or great books about whales — yes, whales — have I got a recommendation for you!

Listen to the latest episode of Looking Closer, which features a conversation with Sarah Welch-Larson about her new book on the theological implications of the Alien franchise.

It seems inevitable: a Looking Closer podcast!

The people of House Abascar have been betrayed by false promises and robbed of colors, robbed of hope. But there are rumors of a girl in the woods who gathers colors that no one else has ever seen. And now, you can hear those colors. During these stay-at-home days, you're invited to a reading of Auralia's Colors.

You can spend a week in Santa Fe with Justin Chang, Ins Choi, Over the Rhine, and more. Also: The new Scorsese film is getting the best possible projection in Seattle. Read about these things and more here...