Carvings from the Southwell Minster chapter house, described in this episode. Dear Friends, I am delighted to share this final episode in my series on You are a Tree: and other Metaphors to Nourish Life, Thought, and Prayer, a rich and warm conversation with the wise and lovely Alison Milbank. Alison Milbank is Professor of Theology and Literature at the University of Nottingham as well as the priest vicar and Canon Theologian at Southwell Minster, the cathedral of Nottinghamshire. Alison is...

A conversation with Christopher Tin about how music and metaphor help us express and share our deep, ineffable experiences, how different ways of speaking about love informed his compositional approach to Turandot, and some bonus chat on Aruthuriana, courtly love, and chivalry Get full access to Joy Clarkson at joyclarkson.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Friends, I am so excited to share this week’s episode in my series on You are a Tree: and other metaphors to nourish life, thought, and prayer. In this week’s episode, I speak with one of the scholars whose work informed my writing: Lydia Schumacher, Professor of Historical and Philosophical Theology at King’s College London. This week’s conversation can be paired with the chapter “Wisdom is (not) Light.” People sometimes ask me which chapter was my favourite to write, and upon...

A conversation with Jennifer Banks about natality. Get full access to Joy Clarkson at joyclarkson.substack.com/subscribe

A conversation with Brian Zahnd about The Wood Between the Worlds: a poetic theology of the cross. Get full access to Joy Clarkson at joyclarkson.substack.com/subscribe

On this week’s episode Joy talks with author David Zahl about the inevitable heaviness of life, whether or not trauma dumping is a thing, the refreshing power of humour to remind us we’re not alone, and the efficacy of Thomas Aquinas’ remedies for sorrow (spoiler: tears, the truth, friends, and baths). Get full access to Joy Clarkson at joyclarkson.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Friends, Today I share the first interview in my series on the metaphors You are a Tree and other metaphors to nourish life, thought, and prayer. I speak with Malcolm Guite. Malcolm Guite is a poet, priest, and rock and roller. He writes and speaks about the intersection of religion and the arts, with a particular interest in the Inklings and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He has written many collections of poetry and advocates for the importance of the imagination in the spiritual life. We...

Dear Friends, I’m very pleased indeed to share that Speaking with Joy is back! In this introductory episode I share what I’ve been up to for the past year, read an excerpt of You are a Tree, and share a bit about the series I’ve recorded for the next few months! Listen in! I hope you enjoy. :) Get full access to Joy Clarkson at joyclarkson.substack.com/subscribe

Joy and Elena talk about morning pages, artist dates, and why they're doing the Artist's Way. Get full access to Joy Clarkson at joyclarkson.substack.com/subscribe

On the 20th of July, 1854 Marian Evans set sail with George Lewes, a man who was not her husband and who was, indeed, a married man with three children. She understood this trip to be her honeymoon, and after it, with growing confidence, she began to call her self “Mrs. Lewes.” Their relationship scandalised the Victorian social circles in which they moved, resulting in their social isolation for many years. They were considered to be adulterers, radicals supporting an amoral free love...

Dear Friends, Good morning and happy Saturday! Today I have a little treat for you: a conversation I recorded with my brother Nathan Clarkson about his recently released book Finding God in Hollywood: Discovering the Divine in Films, Movie Stars, and Stories. Myself, Nathan, and Joel have all spent significant periods of our lives in Los Angeles. Ask any of us and you’d hear something similar: it can be an arid place, a dry and spiritually challenging landscape. In many Christian circles...

Last summer, I found my poem for the year. I read it to whoever would listen. Eventually I recited it to whoever would listen, because I’d read it so many times that it had become a part of the wallpaper of my mind. People tended to have one of two response: they either laughed and ask for the name of the poem, or looked at me with a mild concern in their eyes and ask something like “are you ok?” Here’s the poem: Master of beauty, craftsman of the snowflake, inimitable contriver, endower of...

Dear Friends, Merry Advent! I can’t believe how quickly the days are passing us by— Christmas approaching with alarming speed. I’ve been traveling this month, and there has been something beautiful about seeing cheer spread from city to city. Now that I’m back, I’m rejoicing preparing for Christmas—picking presents for each sibling, niece, nephew, beloved. I think so much of love is preparation. It makes me think of this poem that I love: Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden Sundays too my...

A Conversation with Christopher Tin about extinction elegies, species loss, hope, and his new album with choral group Voces8.

Joy concludes the summer book club on Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, discussing part five with Sarah Clarkson, and reflecting on the final section herself. 

Joy discusses Part Four of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro with Michael Burdett and King-Ho Leung. 

Joy discusses Part Three of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro with James Smoker.

Joy discusses Part Two of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro with Doctors Sarah and Jeremiah Coogan.

Joy announces the book for her summer reading club (Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro), and discusses the first chapter.

Joy speaks with Professor Ben Quash about the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, theological aesthetics, and the Visual Commentary on Scripture.

Joy speaks with Mary McCampbell (who examined her PhD!) about how literature can help us cultivate empathy toward our neighbours, near and far.

Joy speaks with Paul Kingsnorth, a man who has been many things in his life: a poet, an eco-activist, and eco-pessimist, a warlock, and most recently, an Eastern Orthodox christian.

After a brief break to recover from Covid, Joy shares an interview with John Swinton where they speak about God's gentle, slow love, and how we should share that love with each other.

Joy speaks with Rowan Williams about his new (and first) collection of plays, the power of words, and the art of David Jones.