Believe to See

Matt and Mandy talk with Anselm Society Arts Guild member Jane Scharl, a poet and playwright. They discuss Jane's recently published and produced play, an imaginative encounter between St. Ignatius of Loyola, John Calvin, and François Rabelais.

Evangeline and her brother, Dr. John Case Tompkins, voyage from the Emerald Isle to Middle Earth via J.R.R. Tolkien’s obscure poem “The Death of Saint Brendan.”

Evangeline and Mandy sit down at the digital pub table to interview KJ Ramsey—author, artist, and trauma-informed therapist. KJ discusses how her art and recent book of prayers and poems has been influenced by her own story and practice as a trauma-informed therapist. Kj and the cohosts also discuss how grief can be a gateway that helps us connect our own stories to the Great Story. Find KJ at www.kjramsey.com and The Book of Common Courage at BookOfCommonCourage.com 

Mandy and Evangeline talk with author and pastor Eric Schumacher about his various projects (fiction, nonfiction, devotional, musical, and more). The stories behind his work share a common theme: the artist’s search for truth, clarity, and healing.

You cannot have a story without a setting. Whether it's New England or some planet on the other side of the galaxy, a story needs to happen somewhere. Some stories take place within a single apartment, or on a single park bench. But some stories add details to the setting – sometimes a lot of details. This whole process is called worldbuilding, an essential part of much of storytelling. What can worldbuilding add to a story? What happens when it is done well? What about when it is not done well? The Believe to See cohosts invite Elisa Lambert, the Anselm Arts Guild's resident worldbuilding expert, to discuss worldbuilding.

We all know the powers of words, written and spoken. We know that they contain a power so immense that God himself refers to himself as the Word in scripture. But, images speak too - very, very powerfully. This is why small children’s literature most often includes illustrations alongside text. Together, these two powerful methods of learning ignite the imagination of children in extraordinary ways. So, what should we do with the now-very-popular wordless picture books? Why should we invest in wordless picture books? Is it a waste of time, talents, and resources? Christina, Matt, and Mandy sit down to discuss.

Matt, Mandy, and Christina sit down at the digital pub table to discuss Susanna Clarke's 2020 novel, Piranesi.

Matt and Christina sit down with SD Smith, author of the popular Green Ember series, and JC Smith to talk about what it's like to write your first successful story. They discuss SD and JC's new book, Jack Zulu and the Waylander's Key.

Musician Brian Wight joins the table to discuss his journey through Nashville’s music scene. He tells the story of how he went from a teenage musician living out of his car to a successful musician and producer. He also shares his compulsion to compose music, and discusses why he’d still create if he was alone in the wilderness.

Matt describes January as "that special type of year where a stressed out person's fancy turn to thoughts of resolutions," and Matt, Mandy, and Christina launch into a discussion about how it seems that in all good stories, at some point, a character makes a resolution and we need to make resolutions in our own stories. The cohosts discuss how resolutions are used in some of our favorite stories and why they're so important in the stories of our own lives.