Readers Choice Nominees 2022

Karen Swallow Prior: “Words should be stewarded well.”

Center for Faith and Culture | August 03, 2022
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Dr. Karen Swallow Prior explains the process and significance of written communication — from fiction, to poetry, to nonfiction, and more. This talk is from the recent writing workshop, “From Thought to Page,” a writing event for writers, scholars, and bloggers hosted on April 2, 2022 by The Society for Women in Scholarship.

Dr. Prior serves as Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Seminary. Her books include Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me and On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books. She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues and has written articles for Christianity Today, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Relevant, The Gospel Coalition, and many others.

Good writing is a craft whose tool is words.

Highlights

  • “Those who love words begin not by giving them away but first by storing them up. Lovers of words read, and it should go without saying that if you love to write you must read.”
  • “Stories make tangible spiritual and transcendent truths.”
  • “With so many good stories already in the world, does the world need any more? I say yes…. The world will never run out of room for more words.”
  • “Words can be good, or they can be bad. They can be life-giving, or they can be life-destroying. They can increase the beauty of the world, or merely add to the noise. Words, like the rest of God’s good gifts, should be stewarded well.”
  • “Writing is not just about ideas…. It’s a craft.”
  • “Good writing is a craft whose tool is words…. A writer knows how to craft words in order to fulfill the good purpose of the work.”

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The L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture seeks to engage culture as salt and light, presenting the Christian faith and demonstrating its implications for all areas of human existence.

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