A Postcard from Baltimore
Of course I’m cheating, a little. I’m playing fast and loose with the definition of a postcard, and there’s also this: sitting down to write, I’ve been back from Baltimore for a week. Still, spending a few days at the annual meeting of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), in a mighty crowd of people who write and who teach writing, did put me in the mind of dropping a note to people who make the Festival of Faith & Writing what it is. So:
In part, this postcard is a gleeful “see you soon” to the Festivalgoers planning to be in Grand Rapids on April 16-18. Because there’s nothing like hanging out with people who care about story and language to make you eager to hang out, some more, with people who care about story and language.
In part, this postcard from Baltimore belongs to the long tradition of the fond “wish you were here.” No doubt some of you were. And, happily, I saw a couple of y’all. Moreover—just to be clear—I found the people with whom I spent time at AWP to be amazing company. But this was my first AWP, so it didn’t feel quite as much like a motley family reunion as Festival 2026 (my fourteenth?) will.
In part, this postcard is also an invite, which I hope finds anyone who feels a little of the same trepidation about signing up for the Festival that I felt signing up for AWP. This is a note to tell you that we can’t wait to welcome you into this motley family, and, in order to join us, you don’t need any bonafides—not publications, not religious affiliations, no credentials of identity or experience or perspective. Our family resemblances begin and end at our care for one another’s stories, our openness to interrogating faith and doubt, and our love for the written words (as well as spoken and sung and illustrated words).
A little long for a postcard, you might be thinking. Fair enough.
