This week, on Pittsburgh’s WORD-FM, John Hall and Kathy Emmons are talking with special guests about Christianity and culture. And I got to join the party. Want to hear our on-the-air chat? (more…)
I gave a Through a Screen Darkly presentation in Spokane yesterday, and I’m still grinning from the fun I had there.
Many thanks to the College Women’s Association of Spokane for giving me a warm welcome, and proving to be gracious hosts during my stay on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Special thanks to Karen Murray and Harla Jean Biever for inviting me to speak about “dangerous moviegoing”, and to everyone who enriched the conversation afterward. (more…)
Originally, my list of 2009 favorite films was published as a three-part series at Image’s Good Letters blog. You can read that here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three.
But as promised, I’ll be revising the list as I catch up with 2009 releases that I missed during my long hours of writing Raven’s Ladder.
Here are a few thoughts on 2009′s moviegoing year, and the latest version of my list. (more…)
Book reviewer Lindsay Stallones has conspired to get her hands on a copy of Raven’s Ladder.
I must say, while I don’t write in order to please book reviewers (I write because I enjoy it), a few words like this can be a tremendous encouragement to keep on writing, to keep on finding ways to improve. Fuel in the tank.
My thanks to Lindsay for her thoughtful reading and her review.
UPDATE: And now… another reader responds! See Raven’s Ladder posing provocatively with a votive candle!
The Film Viewing Journal is open for business! There is a link to this post on the side-bar of the Looking Closer blog. This is the post where I’ll catalog most of the movies I see. (more…)
Chances are I’ll make my way to your neighborhood one of these days, if I haven’t already. And I’d love to meet LookingCloser.org readers, and anybody who has ventured into the world of Auralia’s Colors, Cyndere’s Midnight, and Raven’s Ladder.
These days, I’ve been delivering presentations on:
Keep in mind: I go where I’m invited. So send me a detailed invitation, and we’ll see what we can do.
Here is my current calendar of speaking engagements.
If you need more details, let me know. If you’re interested in having me share thoughts on faith and art (whether that be movies, fantasy, writing or something else), email me at joverstreet@gmail.com. The calendar’s getting pretty crowded between now and next fall, but we can start penciling things in for late 2010 and 2011…
March 4-6, 2011
IAM Encounter 11
At this conference on the theme “Be Generative,” I’ll be presenting a talk called “I Am Also Five”: sharing a life story about the generative power of play.
March 24, 2011, 7 p.m.
Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park (Seattle)
You’re invited to the Seattle launch party for The Ale Boy’s Feast! Jeffrey will read from the new book and reflect on the sixteen years of writing that brought The Auralia Thread to completion.
April 1, 2011
Imago Film Festival
Judson University, Chicago, IL
April 2, 2011
Reel Spirituality Conference 2011
Fuller Seminary, Los Angeles, CA
I’ll join Elvis Mitchell, Ralph Winter, Robert K. Johnston, Gareth Higgins, Mark Pinsky, Claudia Puig, Justin Chang, and Carolyn Gordon to discuss “The Death of the Critic.”
April 8, 2011
Valley Christian High School, San Jose, CA
April 14, 2011
The Seattle Chesterton Society, Seattle, WA
June 23-26, 2011
Laity Lodge Retreat with Rodney Reeves and Jeffrey Overstreet
I’ll be discussing the ways in which contemporary cinema can nourish our lives through encounters with the sacred, with beauty, and with mystery.
July 31-August 7, 2011
The Glen Workshop, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM
I’ll lead a week-long seminar on cinema that exemplifies great art even as it investigates questions about the nature, purpose, and power of art.
January 27, 2010
Spokane College Women’s Association luncheon, Spokane, WA
I’ll be speaking about faith, movies, and discernment.
February 8, 2010
The Kindlings Muse, Hale’s Ale’s Pub and Brewery, Seattle, WA
Come enjoy dinner while author and host Dick Staub and film reviewers Greg Wright and Jennifer Spohr talk with me about this year’s Oscar-nominated films in a program called “Theology of Oscar’s Best Pictures.” This is an annual event, and the last few have been a blast. I hope to see you there.
March 4-6, 2010
IAM Encounter, New York, NY
The question that the IAM folks have given me is this: “How shall we then tell stories?”
I plan to talk about storytelling on the page and on the big screen.
Encounter 10: Jeffrey Overstreet on the how of storytelling from International Arts Movement on Vimeo.
March 11, 2010
St. Leo University, St. Leo, FL
I’ll be speaking on movies, page-to-screen adaptations, hero stories, and more.
March 2010
Food for Thought presentation, Seattle Pacific University
I’ll read from Raven’s Ladderand talk about where the series is headed in its upcoming final volume.
March 18, 2010
Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Seattle, WA
I’ll read from Raven’s Ladder, talk about The Auralia Thread, and sign books.
April 15, 16, 17, 2010
Okay… I’m not on the program at the Calvin Festival of Faith and Writing this year. But you should attend it anyway. Be sure to check in with my dear friend Warren Farha at Eighth Day Books. He’ll probably have a copy of Raven’s Ladderfor you. I’ll miss all of my friends who will be there.
August 1-8, 2010
The Glen Workshop, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM
I’ll lead a week-long seminar on contemplative cinema. We’ll look at how the world’s most poetic filmmakers do what they do, and explore different avenues of discussion and personal interpretation.
October 1-3, 2010
Laity Lodge Writer’s Retreat
February 18-20, 2011
Jubilee Conference
I spoke to an audience of about 2,000 (college students, faculty, and guests) in my first visit to this conference. What a rush! I gave three presentations: A short talk about the power of art; a lecture on the revelatory power of “pagan” fairy tales; and a lecture about “dangerous moviegoing.”
My friend Cathleen Falsani, whose unapologetic journalism about faith for The Chicago Sun-Times has been a pioneering work of exploration and religious inquiry in the public square, is moving on.
Her farewell piece for the Sun-Times is about Crazy Heart, the new film starring Jeff Bridges (and, I might add, featuring some music by Sam Phillips!)
But it’s about a whole lot more than that.
With her permission, I’m reposting that farewell article from her blog: (more…)
One of my favorite kinds of “wishful thinking” is to cast movies of my favorite novels. I’ve been “dream-casting” since I was a kid. I remember deciding that I wanted to see Ian Holm play Bilbo Baggins when I was in high school, and lo… it came to be. I wanted to see Daniel Day-Lewis play Aragorn… and it’s been reported that they actually offered him the part more than once! (Oh, if only he’d taken that.) So… (more…)
Remember the powerful, inspiring movie Born into Brothels?
If you were inspired by that, then check this out. (more…)
Folks who have joined my Facebook fan page are reading the details on the first of several Raven’s Ladder contests and giveaways.
(more…)