We are excited to announce that confirmed presenters will include:
Benjamin Myers
Benjamin Myers was the 2015-2016 Poet Laureate of Oklahoma. He’s the author of three books of poetry including the recent Black Sunday: Dust Bowl Sonnets. His non-fiction book, A Poetics of Orthodoxy, is forthcoming. He teaches creative writing and literature at Oklahoma Baptist University, and he’s written numerous essays and scholarly articles. He is a frequent lecturer at conferences and literary festivals around the country.
Katy Bowser Hutson and Kenny Hutson
This year’s featured musicians and songwriters are Katy and Kenny Hutson. Katy and Kenny have been creating together and near each other for the last fifteen years.
Kenny is a multi-instrumentalist and producer and has played with artists like Vigilantes of Love, Over the Rhine, Little Big Town, Jim Lauderdale, Eliot Morris, Sandra McCracken, Drew Holcomb, Arthur Alligood, Kate York, Julie Lee and Sarah Siskind. Kenny has been touring with worship artist Crowder for seven years, and just co-produced Rain for Root’s newest project, All Creatures.
Katy Bowser Hutson is a singer, songwriter and writer. She is a founding member of Indelible Grace, co-creator of Coal Train Railroad (jazz for kids) and Rain for Roots, (songs that tell God’s big story to families). Katy released her first collection of poetry this year. Now I Lay Me Down to Fight is a collection of poems written during her treatment for inflammatory breast cancer. Her Kickstarter allowed her to provide copies to medical professionals and people fighting similar battles.
See also https://katyandkenny.bandcamp.com/album/ghostly-songs and https://katyandkenny.bandcamp.com/
Other New Artists in 2019
Cameron Bushy began making videos as a fifth grader. In high school, he started professional film work for Mount Mansfield Media. When his personal documentary for a Haiti missions trip drastically increased interest and support for the project, Cameron found his calling. Now the owner of Six Five Films, he travels the country filming and supporting faith-based projects of all kinds. https://www.sixfivefilms.com/
Christine Wilkens studied education and psychology. She holds an MA in Clinical Mental Health and Substance Abuse. She’s a licensed clinical mental health counselor, national board certified counselor, and licensed church ministry worker. Christine serves on Essex Alliance’s pastoral staff and is founding Executive Director and Supervising Therapist at Azimuth Counseling and Therapeutic Services. She’s used art in providing therapy.
Kristine Fradenburg graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2008. She explored many art forms, traditional and modern. Since graduation, she’s worked as a graphic designer, designing corporate identities and collateral, event invitations, and more. Kristine also enjoys teaching art for her church’s annual summer bible camps.
Linda Turner, is a watercolor artist whose work has won awards in various competitions in the Midwest and the East Coast. Her ability with mixing color without generating “mud” has gifted her with the title of Master Colorist. Linda enjoys sharing with groups that by maximizing God, we widen our scope of possibility. In addition to watercolor artist, she is also an accountant, speaker, and stone wall builder
Patty Orgain Wood made her theatre debut at age 4 and ever since has performed, written, directed and produced on amateur and professional stages: Vermontʼs Lamoille County Players, Masterwork Productions, churches large and small. She co-wrote and directed three Biblical musical comedies with Glenn Sproul, and she continues to write and direct skits, puppet shows, and pageants exploring Biblical themes. Her roles have ranged from ingénue to crone to standardized patient for the UVM College of Medicine. She has a passion for the challenge and joy of creating a believable character.
Graphic artist Sarah McNulty grew up in Essex, running, (and at times forgotten), in the halls at Essex Alliance Church. She graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL, where she studied psychology and communication. She and her husband are raising their 3 kids in Jericho, in a home they built, along with a Chihuahua named Drake and a dozen or so chickens with no names. She started working at Essex Alliance Church as a temp receptionist 13 years ago; she went where God moved her, from working with the middle and high school student ministry, to currently serving as the Director of Graphics & Communication. Sarah has been walking with Christ for nearly her entire life; she’s passionate about sharing that love with other people, and the lifetime of hope it brings.
Returning Artists and Presenters
Artists returning from the 2018 conference include: painter Kevin Moffat, photographer Paul Rogers, prose writers Eric Taylor and Matthew Dickerson, and poet Abigail Carroll.
Eric Taylor holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He has taught college-level writing, editing, and ESL. He’s also led workshops at the New England Young Writer’s Conference at Breadloaf, AWP, StoryMakers, Eastern PA SCBWI, and elsewhere. Eric is author of Using Folktales and editor of the contemporary language version of William Penn’s Some Fruits of Solitude. His poetry and creative non-fiction have most recently appeared in Poetica, Plough Quarterly, The Caterpillar, and others. Writing for children and young adults is Eric’s passion.
Paul Rogers (photography): a native of Stowe, Vermont and holds a BFA degree from the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. He works as a freelance photographer specializing in commercial, documentary, landscape, and fine art photography. He has used photography (and video) services to support Christian missions in 16 countries (including extended trips to China and Southeast Asia).
Matthew Dickerson (narrative nonfiction, historical fiction, and fantasy literature): is the author of: several novels (medieval historical fiction as well as fantasy literature); numerous works of narrative non-fiction nature writing; a biography of the late singer-songwriter Mark Heard; and several critical studies of fantasy literature and the writings of J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S.Lewis. He was selected as artist-in-residence at Glacier National Park in June of 2017 and artist-in-residence at Acadia National Park in May of 2018. www.matthewdickerson.net and www.troutdownstream.net
Abigail Carroll (poetry): is a poet and author whose most recent book, Habitation of Wonder (Wipf & Stock, 2018), is an offering of poems that travels the intersection of the natural landscape and the landscape of spirit. In addition to several other books, she has also published poems in The Anglican Theological Review, The Christian Century, Crab Orchard Review, Midwest Quarterly, River Oak Review, Sojourners, Spiritus, and Terrain. Her prose has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, and Boston Globe.
Kevin Moffat Spontaneous Prophetic Painter of over 400 images during worship. As an itinerant minister of the WORD thru art, Kevin looks to paint what God is speaking to the church in those moments while worshiping at conferences and prayer meetings in many states in the USA as well as Europe. He is a graduate of Maryland Art institute where he majored in print making and architectural design. Hand painting silk scarves, Kevin has a business called Manna Silks (Mannasilks.com), that sells to 50 stores in New England. His art and silk scarves can be found on the internet. (Mannaart.com\)