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 Coming Soon: Image Issue 51
The fall issue of Image is as dense and enduring as a fruitcake, but much more approachable. Sister Wendy Beckett describes her encounter with the Persian calligraphy of Jila Peacock, whose recent art book is made up of ten shaped animal poems by the medieval Sufi poet Hafez, alongside translations by the artist. The issue also presents Larry Racioppo’s photos of religious street art in the five boroughs of New York; an interview with Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Franz Wright on craft, pain, recovery, and coming back to church; and poems by National Book Award-winner Philip Levine. Plus: Todd Shy remembers the cake-and-caffeine fueled spiritual collapse he underwent while working for John Stott in London as a young man; poet Andrew Hudgins writes about the way jokes helped him negotiate what his mom called a “nice-nasty” religious upbringing; and fiction writer Diane Glancy reimagines the prophet Noah in a modern border town. Also: Margaret Avison’s luminous new poetry collection in review. And more.
Not a subscriber? Order issue 51 here.
 Kate Campbell with Spooner Oldham: For the Living of These Days
Kate Campbell’s new album, recorded with longtime R&B organist Spooner Oldham, mixes classic hymns, spirituals, and civil rights anthems with the artists’ own accomplished songwriting. Campbell lends each tune a voice that is pure, clear, and full of character, sometimes wry, sometimes impassioned. Oldham backs her singing and guitar work on Hammond B-3, Wurlitzer, and piano—permeating the whole album with a rather moody grace. His slowly wending organ track on “Be Thou My Vision” brings out a surprising note of world-weary Celtic sadness in a hymn that can sometimes sound militant. Even if you haven’t heard Oldham’s name, you’ve probably heard him play; he’s been at the Muscle Shoals recording studio since the 1960s, and has recorded with Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and others. The choices of songs here are personal and eclectic—from a setting of the “Prayer of Thomas Merton” to an arrangement associated with the spirituals of Mahalia Jackson and Elvis Presley, to covers of Woody Guthrie and Kris Kristofferson—as well as a handful of original tracks. Several arrangements come from the Baptist hymnal Campbell grew up with, including a beautiful rendition of “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy,” a hymn that seems to embody her theology as aptly as any of her own songwriting. For the Living of These Days is intimate and has a spontaneous feel—many of the songs were recorded in a single take—as if you had stepped into someone’s living room on a Sunday afternoon. It offers a sort of family album of the music that has influenced Campbell’s own songwriting over the years. The portrait that emerges is of two songwriters who are deeply alive to the history and character of the American south—both its public tragedies and heroism and its passionate private devotion. Plus: the album’s cover art is by Mary McCleary.
Purchase For the Living of These Days here.
 Heavenly Banquet: Paintings, Frescoes and Sculptures of Artist-Priest Father Dunstan Massey
Father Dunstan Massey, an artist and Benedictine monk living in Mission, British Columbia, recently completed what many consider his crowning artistic achievement. Thirty years in the works, Father Dunstan’s four-story fresco, “The Heavenly Banquet,” features a different take on the Last Supper. “I searched and searched for a painting of this heavenly banquet,” Dunstan said, “but I couldn’t find one. So, the Eucharist features in the new fresco, but it’s in heaven.” Combining simplicity of style with a modern interpretation, the luminous work hangs at one end of the refectory at the Westminster Abbey in Mission. Born William Harold Massey in Vancouver, B.C., Father Dunstan’s artistic gifts were noticed early. In 1940, at age 16, he was offered a one-man art show at the Vancouver Art Gallery. As a young man, however, a different sense of vocation was forming, and in 1942 he entered seminary. Eight years later, he made his monastic vows and received the name Dunstan. After earning degrees in both theology and art, Dunstan was ordained to the priesthood in 1955, and has lived at Westminster Abbey ever since. Though the cloistered life is quiet, Father Dunstan has remained busy with artistic endeavors, including such projects as the series of twenty-two bas-reliefs in the abbey church. His other large fresco, “The Temptation of St. Benedict,” led to a Time Magazine profile in 1971. In addition to painting, Father Dunstan is a poet, filmmaker, and musician. His film on the temptation of St. Benedict, “Crown of Fire,“ won the Golden Eagle at the Cine Awards in Washington, D.C. in 2001. Piquant Editions has recently published his “Mystic Mountain,” a book length poem dramatizing the Christian hope of resurrection. Having completed “The Heavenly Banquet” in December 2005, Father Dunstan has now made available the series of drawings he used to plan the project. As he is one of only a handful of North American artists creating large scale religious frescoes, Father Dunstan’s drawings provide the viewer with a unique behind-the-scenes look at one of history’s most important artistic traditions. Hosted by Regent College in Vancouver, B.C., Heavenly Banquet: Paintings, Frescoes and Sculptures of Artist-Priest Father Dunstan Massey will continue through November. A documentary, In the Footsteps of Michelangelo, produced by Woodfilms for the Knowledge Network will be shown opening night, October 18, 2006.
Find exhibit details here.
 A Sacrifice of Praise, edited by James H. Trott
Depending on how you define it, “Christian poetry” can refer to a small selection of hymns and devotional poems or, as is the case with this anthology, can imply a wider definition. A Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century encompasses a hefty chunk of the poetry written in English over the past thirteen centuries.
Anthologies are funny things, gathering unlikely bed buddies between their pages and offering sometimes astonishing connections. But, while James Trott’s organizing principle is broad enough to include poems from Dickinson and Coleridge alongside the hymns of Luther and Wesley, he is intentional enough that the arrangement comes off cohesively. If there’s one flaw, it’s that the anthology is so inclusive that it doesn’t have time to go deep into any one poet’s work. We’re given only nine lines from Caedmon’s “Hymn,” and T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets” barely makes an appearance with just two stanzas from “Little Gidding.” But what Trott sacrificed in depth we gain in breadth. A Sacrifice of Praise offers a sweeping history, from the origins of Christian verse in Caedmon’s “Hymn” (excerpted here in Anglo-Saxon and modern English) to a selection of poems by an Image favorite, Luci Shaw. In between, you’ll find everything from hymns and epics to sonnets and confessionals, arranged chronologically by time period and then by poet. Brief introductions to each poet and time period help the reader along, but this is not primarily an academic book; there is a characteristic of devotion and piety to the pages. As the title indicates, A Sacrifice of Praise is meant to draw the average reader into the work and worship of reading and writing poetry that is inspired by the Christian faith.
Buy it here.
 “Revelations: Finding God at the Movies” (And at the Bookstore)
“Organizers of the 19th Annual Virginia Film Festival have found God,” announced the press release. “And they are bringing ‘Him’ to Charlottesville.” In other words, from October 26–29, 2006, the Virginia Film Festival will examine the relationship of spirituality and cinema around the theme “Revelations: Finding God at the Movies.“ The event boasts a star-studded guest list, including appearances by actors Morgan Freeman and Robert Duvall, among others. The lineup of films is interestingly diverse, featuring screenings of Everything Is Illuminated, Jesus Camp, and The Chronicles of Narnia, to name a few. Also among the selections are a few screenings co-sponsored by Splintered Light Bookstore and the Center for Christian Study: Cecil B. DeMille's classic silent The King of Kings, the new Wilberforce film Amazing Grace, and Robert Duvall's films The Apostle and Tender Mercies. In case the movies are not enough to draw you to Charlottesville, check out Splintered Light Bookstore, located at 128 Chancellor Street in the Center for Christian Study just off the famous “Corner” district near the grounds of University of Virginia. Splintered Light is notable as an “ecumenically orthodox” bookstore, offering thoughtful books that dialogue with the Christian story from many perspectives—they even have a film section and an excellent selection of poetry. Splintered Light takes a refreshing approach to the Christian bookstore business: “We are bold to say that a Christian intellectual bookstore is not an oxymoron, but our reality.” On its sponsorship of the festival, Splintered Light says “We are excited and proud to be involved in this event, given our store's commitment to the church's ongoing engagement with the culture.” They also have an exquisitely organized website.
For Virginia Film Festival tickets, go here.
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