PHC students play a part of an ongoing literary discussion

Students Abbie Mourey (Literature, '25), Becca Doty (Literature, '26), and Trevor Good (Literature, '26), along with English professor Dr. Cory Grewell, attended the Christian Writers Conference put on by The Conference on Christianity & Literature (CCL). At the conference, Abbie presented a paper entitled “Attacking ‘One by One… the Troupe of Actors’: Examining John Milton’s Second Defense,” as part of a panel on politics, religion, and identity.

This year’s conference (which has been hosted by PHC in the past) took place at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and was hosted by the Department of English there. The conference, titled “Complicity and Hope in Wendell Berry’s Membership,” was an opportunity for Christian scholars from across the country to present their papers on Berry’s work, themes, or other writers inspired by Berry.

The conference began the evening they arrived when he attended a dinner hosted by Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro, an associate professor of English at Grove City and editor-in-chief at the Front Porch Republic. There, he met several scholars who would be presenting papers and some of Grove City College’s faculty. “It was honestly a fantastic experience. It was just a bunch of literary nerds sitting around a table talking about semiotics—I loved it. I think I added six books to my reading list over the course of the evening.”

The next day was full of attending presentation sessions, where panels of scholars would present their work, take questions, and discuss the themes of their writing with the other panelists. After the first session, the conference members joined the rest of the Grove City Student body for chapel, led by singer-songwriter and author Andrew Peterson.

After lunch, Abbie presented her essay to the panel and an audience of students and scholars alike. She presented alongside another undergraduate student from Covenant College. As a part of the presentations, they fielded questions from the audience. Trevor attended Abbie’s presentation and said, “It was really cool how, during the Q&A session, there was a dialogue between both presenters. It is what literary scholarship is all about: finding meaning in a text or author and sharing that with other scholars.” 

Despite feeling a little bit under the weather, Abbie thoroughly enjoyed her experience: “It was such an honor to present my paper. Dr. Grewell always emphasizes how we are part of an ongoing literary discussion. Being at this conference and diving into various works with other writers and scholars from across the country made this reality come to life for me.”

Following Abbie’s panel, Andrew Peterson gave his keynote address, focusing on finding delight in your life, where he shared whimsical stories of his farm, beekeeping, and songwriting. Peterson encouraged students to live their lives fully, delighting in God’s gifts to His children.

Trevor and Dr. Grewell then attended the evening banquet where the CCL bestowed awards for achievements in literary scholarship. Dr. Grewell, who is an officer with CCL, presented the award for the best book to Joshua Robbins and his work, Eschatology in Crayon Wax.

The night was concluded with an Andrew Peterson concert, free for people attending the conference.

The final morning featured three more panels, after which the trio of students set off for PHC, exhausted but pleased with their experience. Trevor said, “I loved the opportunity to hear from all the speakers and learn more about Wendell Berry! Not to mention, road trips with friends are always so much fun. It was a great weekend!”

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