AuthorCast
Authorcast #104: Laura Rutter Strickling, author of On Fire in Baltimore: Black Mormon Women and Conversion in a Raging City October 11 2018
On this episode, we chat with Laura Rutter Strickling, author of On Fire in Baltimore: Black Mormon Women and Conversion in a Raging City.
On Fire in Baltimore: Black Mormon Women and Conversion in a Raging City
By Laura Rutter Strickling
$20.95 paperback
$34.95 hardcover
197 pages
Free sample preview
Q&A with the author
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AuthorCast #62: MHA presentation by Michael Austin July 14 2017
In this episode, Michael Austin presents "The Dime Novel Hero in Salt Lake City: Popular Fiction and the Contested Mormon Embrace of Modernity, 1890–1903." This presentation was given at the 2017 Mormon History Association Conference held in St. Charles, MO on June 3, 2017.
Preview the volume here.
Read a Q&A with the editors here.
AuthorCast #55: This Month in Mormon Studies June 16 2017
Join co-hosts Brian Whitney (Greg Kofford Books) and Brandt Malone (Mormon News Report) in this lively look at the latest happenings in the field of Mormon studies, including news, blogs, new book releases, and events from the past month.
Highlights from this month include: MHA 2017, barbecue, Book of Mormon as literature, Joseph Smith: Monogamist?, LGBT history in Utah, new history of the Church, and David Bokovoy's mustache.
In the News
Passing of Nathan Ulrich
Passing of Charles S. Peterson
Administrative changes at Maxwell Institute
On the Blogs
Ardis Parshall, "The Sailor and the Apostle: 'The Thinking Has Been Done'?"
Ben Park, "LDS Church Distances Itself from Boy Scouts: Some Thoughts"
Matt B, "Ted Chiang, 'Arrival,' Mormons, Science Fiction, Angels, Time Travel, Sex, Free Will, The Tower of Babel, and the Secular: A Roundtable"
Michael Austin, "The Chosen People are Always Wrong"
Michael Austin, "Scripture as Genre"
Steve Evans, "Book Review Roundup"
Blair Hodges, "Troubling the Old Stories with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich"
Juvenile Instructor Summer Book Club Update
Jeff Turner, "The End of the Gathering: Mormonism and Immigration Regulation"
Grant Shreeve, "The Book of Mormon Gets the Literary Treatment"
Digital Content
Joseph Smith Papers updates
Signature Books updates at Archive.org
Podcasts
LDS Perspectives: "A Heavenly Mother - Rachel Steenblik and Caitlin Connolly"
LDS Perspectives: "Joseph's Seer Stones - Michael Hubbard MacKay"
LDS Perspectives: "Tough Questions about Mormon Polygamy - Brian and Laura Hales"
Year of Polygamy: "The Succession Crisis"
Year of Polygamy: "Lorenzo Snow"
Faith Matters: "Conversations with Terryl Givens"
Recent Book Releases
Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Vol 5 (Church Historian's Press)
Seth Anderson, LGBT Salt Lake (Arcadia)
Joseph M. Spencer and Jeremiah John, Embracing the Law: Reading Doctrine and Covenants 42 (Maxwell Institute)
Mark D. Ogletree, No Other Success: The Parenting Practices of David O. McKay (BYU RSC)
Papers/Articles
Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, "A New Voice from the Past: The Council of Fifty Minutes"
Brady Winslow, "Irregularities in the Work of the Nauvoo Lodge: Mormonism, Freemasonry, and Conflicting Interests on the Illinois Frontier"
Brian C. Hales, "Joseph Smith: Monogamist or Polygamist?"
Colby Townsend, "Behold Other Scriptures I Would That Ye Should Write: Malachi in the Book of Mormon"
Joseph Spencer, "Isaiah 52 in the Book of Mormon: Notes on Isaiah's Reception History"
Conferences and Events
Faith Matters: "New Perspectives on Joseph Smith and Translation"
Mormon Scholars in the Humanities
Mormon Transhumanist Association
JSP Documents, Vol 5 release event at Benchmark Books
Mormon History Association 2017 Conference
Sunstone 2017 SLC Symposium
FairMormon 2017 Conference
John Whitmer Historical Association 2017 Conference
Book of Mormon Studies Conference
Call for Papers/Applications
2018 Church History Symposium
2018 Mormon History Association Conference
AuthorCast #43: This Month in Mormon Studies May 01 2017
Join co-hosts Brian Whitney (Greg Kofford Books) and Brandt Malone (Mormon News Report) in this lively look at the latest happenings in the field of Mormon studies, including news, blogs, new book releases, and events from the past month.
Highlights from this month include: Blogs becoming independent presses, Mormon studies nerds filing briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Marlin K. Jensen and insider baseball, summer book club, temple ships and Ouija boards, and big words like indigeneity!
In the News
Firm Foundation Expo and bad science
BCC Press; See also
Ben Park in Newsweek; See also
Signature Books digital archives project
Jana Riess The Next Mormons survey: trust gap
On the Blogs
Vincenzo di Francesca: Cultural Impediments in the Way of His Baptism
Mormon Scholars Opposed to Refugee and Immigrant Ban
Embracing the Chaos and Diversity of Mormonism's Past: Laurie Maffly-Kipp's MHA Presidential Address
Mormon Interpreter: Looking Back, Almost Five Years On
“Providing intellectual and devotional frameworks” (Nibley Fellow Reflections)
Looking Deeper Into Joseph Smith's First Vision: Imagery, Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Construction of Memory
An Evening With Elder Marlin K. Jensen
My Thoughts on Patrick Mason's Miller Eccles Presentation
BCC Press Q&A for academic historians
The Third Annual Summer Book Club: A House Full of Females
Podcasts
LDS Women at the Pulpit - Jenny Reeder and Kate Holbrook
Tithing and the Law of Consecration - Steven C. Harper
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and “A House Full of Females”
Darron Smith interviews on Gospel Tangents
Richard Bennett interviews on Gospel Tangents
On the Erasure of Native Americans from the Book of Mormon Conversation: Thomas Murphy
Kava, Culture, Indigeneity and Mormonism: Daniel Hernandez
God, the Image of God, Theosis, Sex and Godly Creation: Blair Ostler
Recent Book Releases
Steven Peck, Science the Key to Theology: Volume One: Preliminaries (BCC Press); See also
Reid L. Neilson and Nathan N. Waite, eds., Settling the Valley, Proclaiming the Gospel: The General Epistles of the Mormon First Presidency (Oxford University Press)
Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (University of Utah Press)
Published Articles
Brian Hauglid, “Book of Abraham and Translating the Sacred”
Robin Scott Jensen, “The Joseph Smith Papers and the Book of Abraham”
Christopher Blythe, “The Church and Kingdom of God: Ecclesiastical Interpretations of the Council of Fifty”
Conferences and Events
Reid Neilson and Nathan Waite at Benchmark Books
2017 UVU Mormon Studies Conference on YouTube: Thurs sessions, Friday sessions
Sunstone Symposium in Southern Utah
2017 Association for Mormon Letters conference; AML Book Awards, Fundraiser
Sunstone Symposium in Boise
2017 Mormon History Association Registration
2017 Sunstone Symposium SLC
2017 FairMormon Conference
2017 JWHA in Nauvoo
Call for Papers/Applications
The International Society of Landscape, Place and Material Culture
AuthorCast #41—Live event for Dime Novel Mormons March 24 2017
Kofford Books AuthorCast, hosted by Brian Whitney. In this episode, we are featuring a recording from a round table press event for Dime Novel Mormons that took place on March 17 at the Greg Kofford Books office. Dime Novel Mormons is the latest volume in The Mormon Image in Literature series, edited by Michael Austin and Ardis E. Parshall.
About the book:
For this volume, four full-length dime novels have been chosen to represent different aspects of the Mormon image in dime novels: Eagle Plume, the White Avenger. A Tale of the Mormon Trail (1870); The Doomed Dozen; or, Dolores, the Danite’s Daughter (1881); Frank Merriwell Among the Mormons; or, The Lost Tribes of Israel (1897); and The Bradys Among the Mormons; or, Secret Work in Salt Lake City (1903). The often-lurid and scandalous portrayals of Mormons in these dime novels had consequences for the relationship between Mormons and the rest of the United States. They would represent reality for millions of people, and the basic portrayals found their way into more serious literature. Understanding how these stereotypes were created and first employed can help us understand many things about the way that Mormonism has always functioned in American culture.
Preview the volume here.
Read a Q&A with the editors here.
AuthorCast #35—Conversation with Scott Hales, creator of The Garden of Enid December 13 2016
In this episode, we chat with Scott Hales, author and illustrator of The Garden of Enid: Adventures of a Weird Mormon Girl.
About the book:
Fifteen-year-old Enid Gardner is a self-proclaimed “weird Mormon girl.” When she isn’t chatting with Joseph Smith or the Book of Abraham mummy, she’s searching for herself between the spaces of doubt and belief. Along the way, she must grapple with her Mormon faith as it adapts to the twenty-first century. She also must confront the painful mysteries at the heart of her strained relationship with her ailing mother.
This edition of The Garden of Enid: Adventures of a Weird Mormon Girl recasts the award-winning webcomic as a two-part graphic novel. With revised and previously unpublished comics, it features the familiar story that captivated thousands online, yet offers new glimpses into Enid’s year-long odyssey.
Preview the volume here.
AuthorCast #34 — This Month in Mormon Studies, September 2016 November 11 2016
Join co-hosts Brian Whitney (Greg Kofford Books) and Brandt Malone (Mormon News Report) in this lively look at the latest happenings in the field of Mormon studies, including news, blogs, new book releases, and events!
Music by Starflyer 59 from their record SLOW.
In the News
Postdoctoral fellow and lecturer position at The University of Virginia
Maxwell Institute Executive Committee and Advisory Board
On the Blogs
The Beleagured Progress of LDS Women
SMPT Annual Meeting notes here, here, and here
The Sacrament: a (somewhat speculative) liturgical genealogy
Michael MacKay on changing views that seemed set in stone
If Not 1890, What Year Did Mormonism Change the Most?
Recent Book Releases
Foundations of the Restoration: 45th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, edited by Craig James Ostler
Joseph M. Spencer, The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi's Record
Richard S. Van Wagoner, Natural Born Seer: Joseph Smith, American Prophet, 1805-1830
At Sword's Point, Part 2: A Documentary History of the Utah War, 1858-1859, edited by William P. MacKinnon
Recent and Upcoming Events
The Intellectual Life of Mormonism, Lecture 3
David F. Holland lecture at Maxwell Institute (video)
Roundtable Discussion for The Vision of All (video)
Call for Papers
Mormon Scholars in the Humanities 2017 conference
AuthorCast #33 — Conversation with Joseph M. Spencer, author of The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi's Record October 27 2016
In this episode, we bring Joseph M. Spencer back for a conversation about his newest book, The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi's Record, part of the Contemporary Studies in Scripture series published by Greg Kofford Books.
About the book:
In The Vision of All, Joseph Spencer draws on the best of biblical and Latter-day Saint scholarship to make sense of the so-called “Isaiah chapters” in the first two books of the Book of Mormon. Arguing that Isaiah lies at the very heart of Nephi’s project, Spencer insists on demystifying the writings of Isaiah while nonetheless refusing to pretend that Isaiah is in any way easy to grasp. Presented as a series of down-to-earth lectures, The Vision of All outlines a comprehensive answer to the question of why Nephi was interested in Isaiah in the first place. Along the way, the book presents both a general approach to reading Isaiah in the Book of Mormon and a set of specific tactics for making sense of Isaiah's writings. For anyone interested in understanding what Isaiah is doing in the Book of Mormon, this is the place to start.
Preview the volume here.
Join us on Thursday, October 27th for a special author round table event at Writ & Vision in Provo, UT with Joseph Spencer, Adam Miller, Sharon Harris, and Nicholas Frederick. The discussion starts at 7:00 pm and is free to the public. For those who aren't able to make it in person, Greg Kofford Books will be livestreaming the discussion on our Facebook page.
AuthorCast #30 — This Month in Mormon Studies, July 2016 August 05 2016
Join co-hosts Brian Whitney (Greg Kofford Books) and Brandt Malone (Mormon News Report) in this lively look at the latest happenings in the field of Mormon studies, including news, blogs, new book releases, and events! Our special guest this month is Brittany Mangleson from Project Zion Podcast.
Music by Starflyer 59 from their record SLOW.
In the News
Radio West interview with Greg Prince
BYU Mormon Studies conversation group
Internship with Church Historic Sites
On the Blogs
Jana Reiss, "Can Mormon women be witness to priesthood ordinances?"
Margaret Blair Young, "Race and Mormonism–2016 Edition (the less coy version)"
Aaron Brown, "Does the LDS Church Believe the Priesthood Ban was of Divine Origin or Not?"
Ardis Parshall, "A Stealthy Return to Bad Practices of the Past"
David G., "Heavenly Ledgers and Ghostly Specters: Two Recent Articles"
Blair Hodges, "For the church in Russia, sustaining doesn't mean agreeing"
Emily Grover, "Sister Wives of the Traveling Pants: Confronting My Polygamous Ancestry"
Joseph Stuart, "Death and the Historian's Empathy"
Recent Book Releases
Michael Austin and Ardis E. Parshall, eds., Boadicea; The Mormon Wife: Life-Scenes in Utah
Julie M. Smith, ed., Apocalypse: Reading Revelation 21-22
Stephen L. Prince, Hosea Stout: Lawman, Legislator, Mormon Defender
Scholarly Journals
Journal of Mormon History, Vol 42, No. 3 (July 2016)
Recent and Upcoming Events
Richard Bushman Colloquium now available online
2016 Science & Mormonism Symposium videos
2016 Sunstone SLC Summer Symposium
Daniel Stone's forthcoming biography William Bickerton
BYU New Testament Commentary Conference
Upcoming Events and Call for Papers
2017 Mormon History Association Conference, call for papers
2016 Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology Seminar
2016 John Whitmer Historical Association Conference
AuthorCast #29 — Writing Ourselves live event at Writ & Vision July 15 2016
In this episode, we join a live event for Jack Harrell’s release of Writing Ourselves: Essays on Creativity, Craft, and Mormonism that took place at Writ & Vision rare books and fine art in Provo, UT on June 28th.
For our next live event, we will be trying something new: Facebook Live. Join us on Thursday, July 21st as Julie M. Smith, Joseph M. Spencer, and Benjamin Peters discuss Julie's two new releases: Apocalypse: Reading Revelation 21-22 and As Iron Sharpens Iron: Listening to the Various Voices of Scripture. This event is co-sponsored by Greg Kofford Books and Neal A. Maxwell Institute. It is free to the public and will begin at 7 p.m.
Click here for more details and watch our Facebook Page around 7 p.m. on July 21st for a live feed.
AuthorCast #27 - Jack Harrell reads from Writing Ourselves June 23 2016
Jack Harrell reads “Making Meaning as a Mormon Writer” from Writing Ourselves: Essays on Creativity, Craft, and Mormonism.
Part candid memoir, part critical theory and philosophy, and part writing advice, Writing Ourselves: Essays on Creativity, Craft, and Mormonism, by Jack Harrell offers a refreshing look at the creative process and authenticity. Eric Samuelsen, well-known Utah playwright, said about the book, “Jack Harrell’s essays on writing and Mormonism and life reflect a life spent in the service of thoughtful and compassionate humanism.” “Embrace your weirdness!” wrote Margaret Blair Young, creative writing faculty at Brigham Young University, who called the book “a gift . . . to LDS writers and artists who are forever self-censoring.”
Listen to our AuthorCast interview with Jack Harrell.
Meet the author on Tuesday, June 28th at 7:00 p.m. at Writ & Vision in Provo, UT, for a special panel discussion on creativity and critical theory in Mormonism. Panelists will include:
Jack Harrell, Creative Writing instructor at BYU-Idaho and author of Writing Ourselves
Boyd Jay Peterson - English professor at UVU and editor of Dialogue
Darlene Young - English professor at BYU-Provo
Eric Samuelsen - Playwright and emeritus professor of theatre at BYU-Provo
The event is free and Jack will be available for questions and book signing.
Writ & Vision
274 W Center Street
Provo, UT, 84601
AuthorCast #25 - Jack Harrell June 10 2016
An interview with Jack Harrell, author of Writing Ourselves: Essays on Creativity, Craft, and Mormonism.
Continuing a conversation as old as Mormonism itself, Jack Harrell explores the relationship between Mormonism and the writer. Mormons see the universe in mythic proportions. Their God is a creator, their devil a destroyer. This makes meaningful conflict fundamental to their worldview, and begs the terms for religious redemption, as well as the redemptive power of art. Harrell urges writers to be authentic as they embrace the difficulties inherent in the creative process. His essays blend faithful intellectual inquiry, personal narrative, research, and application to offer insights for anyone who cares about writing, creativity, and the human condition.
“A thought-provoking, inspiring, and beautifully written book.” — Margaret Blair Young, creative writing faculty at Brigham Young University, and co-author of the Standing on the Promises series
“If you care about Mormonism and good writing and the moral implications of fiction, you need to add this book to your library.” — Eric Samuelsen, playwright and former president of the Association for Mormon Letters
Preview the volume here.
**Join us for a special panel event at Writ & Vision on Tuesday, June 28 at 7:00 p.m. with Jack Harrell, Boyd Peterson, Darlene Young, and Eric Samuelsen discussing creativity, expresion, and a "Mormon literary theory." The event is free and light refreshments will be served.**
Authorcast #16 - Interview with Michael Austin December 30 2015
In our latest episode, we interview Michael Austin, author of Re-reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World's Greatest Poem; the second book in the Contemporary Studies in Scripture series.
Preview Re-Reading Job
Be sure to check out the forthcoming series The Mormon Image in Literature, edited and annotated by Michael Austin and Ardis E. Parshall. The first book in the series, The Mormoness, is scheduled to be published January 26, 2016. Pre-order your copy today!
