Forefront 360

Interview: Veronica McDonald

Cody talks with Veronica McDonald about the enjoyment of surprising stories, the beauty of the Gospel, and the challenges of running a literary journal. 

Veronica McDonald is a published fiction writer, poet, visual artist, and editor. She graduated from American University in Washington D.C. with an M.A. Degree in Literature, and has since accumulated a growing list of published work.

In 2019, Veronica started a literary and art journal called Heart of Flesh, where she publishes Christian-themed literature, poetry, art, and photography by writers and artists from around the world. In 2021, she began a literary magazine for kids and families, called Pure in Heart Stories.

Veronica became a born-again Christian in July 2016 when Jesus saved her from anxiety, depression, and a nihilistic worldview.  Since then, she has been fascinated with good and evil, love and fear, life and death, and the various ways the Gospel and biblical themes shine out of secular literature, movies, and storytelling. This fascination is often reflected in her writing and art. You can read her full testimony on the Heart of Flesh website here.

Veronica currently lives in Mobile, Alabama with her husband and three children.

Arts Review: Anastasia Trusova, Hallow, Brother to Brother, Ordinary Ways

Nate, Rich and Dan discuss the art they've been experiencing recently:

• Anastasia Trusova's paintings
• The Hallow app
• Brother to Brother by Michael Card & John Michael Talbot
• Ordinary Ways by Jon Guerra

Discussion: Summer Movie Review 2023

Nate, Rich and Dan give their takes on the summer blockbusters of 2023. We keep it free of major spoilers.

• 00:04:23 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• 00:12:46 - Across the Spider-Verse
• 00:20:25 - John Wick 4
• 00:26:28 - The Flash
• 00:31:44 - Asteroid City
• 00:34:06 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• 00:45:11 - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning: Part One
• 00:49:55 - Barbie
• 01:02:38 - Oppenheimer

Discussion: AI Art (Part 2)

The Forefront crew continues and broadens their discussion about AI’s impact on the arts:

• How will widely accessible AI tools affect education?
• To what extent will AI displace jobs, and should we be concerned?
• Will using AI negatively affect our spiritual formation?

Discussion: AI Art (Part 1)

The Forefront crew discusses AI’s impact on the arts:

• Why has AI become so important recently?
• What are some positive use cases of new AI tools?
• What are our biggest concerns about the use of AI in the arts?

Interview: Dr. Karen Swallow Prior

Rich Christman and guest host Houston Arledge interview Dr. Karen Swallow Prior about the ideas in her all-new book, The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Brazos, 2023).

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is a reader, writer, and professor. In addition to The Evangelical Imagination, she is the author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos 2018); Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson, 2014); and Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press, 2012). She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan 2019) and has contributed to numerous other books. She has a monthly column for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, and various other places. She hosted the podcast Jane and Jesus. 

Interview: poet Chris Wheeler

Heather and Cody interview Chris Wheeler, a writer and poet rooted in Middlebury, IN. His nonfiction, liturgies, and poetry have been published in Barren, Fathom, Story Warren, Reformed Worship, Think Christian, Banner, and The Rabbit Room, among others. He published his first collection of poetry, Solace, in 2020. His second collection, Masks & Mirrors, came out in spring 2023.

Discussion: The Chosen TV Series

Cody and Nate discuss The Chosen, the hit multi-season series about the life of Jesus, told from the perspective of His followers.

Topics include:

• How The Chosen came to be
• Does it improve upon other recent Scripture-to-screen adaptations?
• Favorite scenes
• Is the show ever sacrilegious?
• Does The Chosen "bring Scripture to life"?
• Bonus nitpicks

Interview: Laura Reece Hogan

Cody and Rich talk to Laura Reece Hogan.

She is the author of Butterfly Nebula (Backwaters, University of Nebraska Press, forthcoming October 2023), winner of the Backwaters Prize in Poetry, Litany of Flights (Paraclete Press, 2020), winner of the Paraclete Poetry Prize, the chapbook O Garden-Dweller (Finishing Line Press, 2017), and the award-winning nonfiction spiritual theology book I Live, No Longer I (Wipf & Stock, 2017). She is one of ten poets featured in the anthology In a Strange Land (Cascade Books, 2019).

You can preorder Butterfly Nebula today.

Interview: Live at A Night of Art with Josh & Zac Tiessen

Jennifer Greenman interviews Josh & Zac Tiessen, live at Forefront Festival's A Night of Art. They discuss questions of faith, conservation, artistic process, elitism, and dealing with success and failure.