Category Archives: The Past through Literature

in verse #26 : organ music

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Dennis Clark

If the last three letters of the f-word are what seems most repellent about it — the sound of “uck” — that would explain how some other words ending that way still seem a bit odd, if not funny or … Continue reading →

Posted in In Verse, The Past through Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Book of Mormon: a Biography

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Eric R Samuelsen

One of my favorite books of Bible scholarship, and a terrific dip-your-toes-in-the-water first book for people interested in the subject is Karen Armstrong’s The Bible: A Biography.  It was part of a series called Books That Changed the World, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Literary Views of Scripture, On-screen, On-stage, The Past through Literature | 2 Comments

Writing the Hard History

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Mahonri Stewart

I have posted this elsewhere in the past, but with the publication of The Fading Flower by Zarahemla Books recently, and that play being more readily available now, I wanted to drag this post back into the light: I have … Continue reading →

Posted in On-stage, The Past through Literature, The Writer's Desk | 10 Comments

in verse # 18 : a monstrous fable

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Dennis Clark

Like many a medieval manuscript, Piers the plowman has no title as such.  Walter W. Skeat, who gave it that title, notes, however, that, in the manuscript he used as the basis for his Oxford edition, “we find here [in … Continue reading →

Posted in In Verse, Mormon LitCrit, The Past through Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

History as Fiction, Fiction as History

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Jessie Christensen

A few weeks ago, A Motley Vision provided a quote from an 1897 publication by Junius Wells in which he discusses the idea of books as ‘companions’ and urges his readers to reconsider the type of company they keep when … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Voices, The Past through Literature | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Children’s Lit Corner

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Kathryn Poulter

I have been haunted most of my life by the memory of a book I read once when I was very young. It was most likely a library book, because it certainly wasn’t part of my life for very long, … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Lit corner, Storytelling and Community, The Past through Literature, YA corner | 7 Comments

in verse # 14 : the alliterative revival

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Dennis Clark

Literary wayfaring in England did not end with the Norman Conquest in 1066.  It forked, one fork following the lead of the French conquerors, the other the lead of the English conquered.  Both of these were excursions into vulgar territory

Posted in In Verse, The Past through Literature, Thoughts on Language | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Children’s Lit Corner

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Kathryn Poulter

Our library is installing new carpet. Because I am the Youth Services Librarian, this mean that I have spent the past several days moving all the children’s and young adult books (actually all the books in the library, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Lit corner, The Past through Literature, YA corner | 7 Comments

Looking back, looking around, looking forward

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Eric R Samuelsen

The BYU Writers/Dramaturgs/Actors workshop, or WDA, provides an intensive workshop experience for new plays and for new writers. I’ve taught it for years–this year, my friends and colleagues Melissa Larsen and George Nelson are running it. Typically, six plays are … Continue reading →

Posted in International Scene, On-stage, The Past through Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

I Am Jane (with a little Levinas)

Posted on June 6, 2010 by Margaret Blair Young

I wrote the play I Am Jane a decade ago, and we had our premiere performance in an LDS chapel for the Genesis Group meeting. We turned the sacrament table into a deathbed and the choir seats into a pioneer camp. … Continue reading →

Posted in Mormon LitCrit, On-stage, The Past through Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments