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CCFW endeavors to create spaces wherein people from many faith traditions are welcomed warmly, listened to with respect and generosity, and invited into deeper engagement with the common good. Learn more at CCFW.calvin.edu.
The Calvin Center for Faith & Writing is debuting a short, no-cost film called Katherine Paterson: Written Together, featuring kids from the Grand Rapids Creative Youth Center (CYC), librarian and author Travis Jonker, and decorated children’s author Katherine Paterson.
Paterson is the author of Bridge to Terabithia, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Jacob Have I Loved, and more than 30 other titles. She has received three John Newbery Medals and many other awards. Her books probe the deep questions that plague us all.
“Katherine Paterson is one of the patron saints of the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing because she’s someone who has artfully cultivated a rich conversation between faith and literature her whole life,” says CCFW co-director Jennifer L. Holberg. “This short film shows you why we love Katherine and her questions—and introduces you to the ways she’s posing those questions to a new generation of readers.”
The film also features the CYC’s 3rd-5th grade book club, who read and react to Bridge to Terabithia and ask “Mrs. Paterson” questions about her award-winning book. Travis Jonker, a librarian, author, and the writer behind 100 Scope Notes, also offers his reaction to and admiration for Paterson’s legacy.
In a clip included from a speech Paterson gave in 1998 at the Festival of Faith & Writing, she proclaims, “Stories truly told can give us a key to unlock for each other those ‘thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.’” The life of Katherine Paterson is also highlighted as she tells her story of growing up as a missionary child, having to flee the war between Japan and China, creating stories as her vocation, and more. Katherine Paterson: Written Together is free to all viewers and aims to bring inspiration to writers, readers, and anyone who loves stories.
Watch the film in its entirety here: CCFW.calvin.edu/initiatives/katherine-paterson-film/.
About the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing:
The Calvin Center for Faith & Writing (CCFW) offers a variety of initiatives to invite writers and readers into conversations about faith and literature. As host of the biennial Festival of Faith & Writing, the Rewrite Radio podcast, and other programming, the CCFW endeavors to create spaces wherein people from many faith traditions are welcomed warmly, listened to with respect and generosity, and invited into deeper engagement with the common good. Learn more at CCFW.calvin.edu.
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