No, not the start of a blog series about my various neuroses, but a look at the current issue of IMAGE, in hopes that those of you who like this sort of thing will see that a subscription would make an excellent Christmas gift to yourself or someone like you. Not to make it All About Me, but this issue does feature Once Was Lost in a review of four young adult novels that deal with faith. The other three are The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas, Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes, and Trouble by Gary Schmidt. Reviewer Hannah Faith Notess (who also edited Jesus Girls) describes a series of YA books she was given as a Christian teen:

On their pastel covers, modestly sweatshirted girls with big hair and worried expressions gazed into the distance. Between the covers, sweet-tempered heroines and their friends asked Jesus to help them deal with Issues the Youth are Facing Today…The series exemplified two of the pitfalls of YA fiction: a formulaic approach to the novel series and a heavy-handed focus on issues instead of character and plot—the things that make fiction enjoyable to read.

Notess goes on to describe the changes in the YA category and looks at “who is following in [Madeleine] L’Engle’s footsteps to take both art and faith seriously, and what new territory these writers are carving out.” Great article, one whose like you won’t find in many (any?) literary journals of the quality of IMAGE.

That article is at the back of the journal. In the front is always an editorial statement from Greg Wolfe, one of my living personal patron saints. This issue’s statement is particularly oomphy for me—as a writer, yes, but mostly as a person—as Wolfe meditates on St. Ireneous of Lyons’ statement that “The glory of God is man fully alive.” You can read the whole thing here, lucky you!

But that’s not all! There’s a fantastic interview with Tim Gautreaux, whose story “The Pine Oil Writers’ Conference” (from the New York Times Notable collection Welding with Children) is my favorite story about writing, ever. (Truly, you need to read it.) In the interview, conducted by one of his former students, Gautreaux talks about some of the main things he tries to communicate in his short-story workshop. He likens a story to a loaf of bread, that “…anywhere you sample it with a pinch, is a loaf of bread. A story about a struggle between a man and his wife, anywhere you sample a piece, with taste of the struggle between this man and his wife.”

As if that were not enough, most issues of IMAGE include two works of short fiction, seven or eight new poems, a couple of critical essays on visual art, and a personal essay. This month, the cover art comes from painter Guy Kinnear, and to make that extra cool (for me), Guy used to teach with my G. back in our San Francisco days. Did I mention the journal is printed on beautiful paper, with full-color images on the cover and inside?

Have I convinced you? No? Well, fine, don’t subscribe. But this holiday season, and forever, consider giving a subscription to some real, live print journal. And buy everyone a specially-selected book, hopefully from a local independent bookseller. Reclaim literary objects as things of value—things to be carefully chosen, given, treasured.

Subscribe to IMAGE here.