In this memoir of the craft, Ben Palpant unpacks a lifetime of wisdom gained through the long, hard work of learning to write and to live well. Delivered as a series of letters from father to daughter, he patiently and gracefully paints a vision of what it means to enter into one’s creative work as an act of generative obedience—an act that blesses the writer, the work itself, and the world that receives it.
Palpant reveals the creative process not only as an act of love and attentive artisanship, but as the work of shaping a life and a heart that points toward the coming of a Kingdom and the renewal of Creation itself.
“Sometimes you can read just one sentence and know that the writer has a gift. Ben Palpant is one of those people. This book on writing, framed as a series of letters to his daughter, is a window into his big, generous, and pastoral soul. There’s a lot of wisdom here, and I’m grateful for the way Palpant is using his gift to give it away.”
—Andrew Peterson, singer/songwriter, author of the Wingfeather Saga
“This book is a beautiful work of grace, bound by love and fueled by art, a blessing in every sense to the reader. I enjoyed every word.”
—Jeff Goins, author of The Art of Work
“In the beautiful epistolary tradition evocative of Rilke, Ben Palpant examines what it means to be an attentive writer of faith, and to pass the creative commending of God’s mighty works to a future generation.”
—Carolyn Weber, author of Surprised by Oxford
BEN PALPANT is a memoirist, poet, novelist, and non-fiction writer. He is the author of several books, including A Small Cup of Light, Sojourner Songs, and The Stranger. He writes under the inspiration of five star-lit children and one dog named Chesterton. He and his wife live in the Pacific Northwest.
