In Conversation: Rowan Williams and Greg Garrett

This second volume in the In Conversation series provides readers the delightful opportunity to listen in while Williams (Christ the Heart of Creation), former archbishop of Canterbury, and Garrett (My Church Is Not Dying), a novelist and Baylor University religion professor, engage in seven conversations on a wide range of mutual interests. Topics including “Cooking and Singing as Spiritual Practices” and “The Gospel According to Doctor Who” provide levity alongside more serious matters such as “Hope for the Church” in an increasingly areligious time. However, the bulk of their conversations focus on their experiences of reading and writing as integral to their vocations and faith. They also offer reflections on influential writers, including Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, Marilynne Robinson, P.D. James, and Shakespeare. In addition, they discuss how—as people of faith and writers—the personal, spiritual, and political come together, requiring them to speak out against injustices, such as the separation of children from parents at the U.S. border, which they condemn. This dialogue comes across as refreshingly unstaged and genuine, and offers a smorgasbord of riches to enjoy and ponder. (May)