A Note from Storyformed Founder, Sarah Clarkson...
It's no secret that we like stories around here, so let me tell you one to begin.
Once upon a time there was a girl named Sarah who loved good books and wanted the rest of the world to know why they should too. Being an idealistic girl and the child of idealistic parents, she wrote a book about it (Caught Up in a Story) and started a website where people could come to delight and discover stories galore. But, then, being also adventurous and led by all the great books she'd read into the attempting of her dreams, she ended up in Oxford, city of her writerly heroes, and before she knew it she was a student of theology. With a gazillion papers due all the time. And then, on top of all that, she got married. And somewhere along the way the Storyformed project got drastically on hold, much to her dismay.
Until the charming, insightful, and courageous Holly showed up to save it and revive the website and start the conversation afresh.
I like this ending (or shall we say, new chapter) immensely and am delighted from top to toe to see the Storyformed website and idea relaunched here today. I am thrilled that Holly, a dear friend, a writer, a fellow lover of good books, has come along to tend and nourish this place afresh, and I look so forward to watching the conversations and book lists, podcasts and discussions that take place here as the storyformed world takes shape (I'll be involved as often as I can!).
As Storyformed begins afresh, my hope is that it will grow into a place where great stories are not only read, but begun. Because at heart of my love for good books is the belief that great stories teach us how to live a great life story.
What hero do you want to be?
It's the question my brother once asked me, and it's one of the key questions shaping the whole of this website, this idea called Storyformed. What hero will I become? What great thing have I been created to accomplish? What is my adventure? What have I been made to discover? Who will I love? Questions like those are the questions of great books, the answers given in the embodied drama of the very characters who show us what it looks like to live - in love and courage, in creativity, in purpose.
But stories are, I believe, a gift. Whether the bedtime books our parents read in our childhood or the classics recommended by mentors, or the novel to lift the heart recommended by a friend, stories often come to us by the generosity of another. The older I get, the more I realise how much I have been formed by the fact that my parents chose to give me a childhood crammed with books.
Storyformed is here to continue that gift, to recommend books as friends, to come alongside our readers - whether parents, teachers, lovers of literature - in the quest for stories to shape and enliven the heart. Our hope is that your imagination will be kindled by the books you find here, that you will be girded with new excitement in your pursuit of the reading life, that friendship and book lists alike will help you on your way.
Read to live, we say here, and may we all be formed by story to live great stories of our own.
Re-Introducing Storyformed: A Word from Storyformed Director, Holly Packiam
'Stories are verbal acts of hospitality.'-- Eugene Peterson
Stories have a way of disarming you, of welcoming you into a new world. Jesus told stories to awaken people's imagination to what the Kingdom of God is like, and to help them take their place in it. We believe that stories have the power to help you discover meaning and morality, to develop character as you become character in the Great Drama of God's work in His world.
The heart of Storyformed is to give you ideas for how to put the best books into the hands of your children. We’re here to celebrate the soul-forming power of imagination, story, and beauty in the life of your child. Our hope is that the books and ideas we write and talk about will help you in the process of forming your children to love what is good, beautiful, and true.
On the site, you’ll find encouraging articles, book recommendations, podcasts, book lists, essays, recommended sites and resources, a Storyformed bookstore, and a library. We’ll be regularly writing about imagination, artists, nature, literary travels (if any come our way) and other adventures that come about between the covers of a book.
Please join us in the Storyformed community as we journey together to cultivate Storyformed homes. We would love for you to connect with us here or on our Storyformed Facebook page. We love hearing your thoughts and answering any questions.
We announced a giveaway on the Storyformed Facebook page this week. If you help us share the word about the Storyformed re-launch, you'll be entered into a drawing to win 2 of the Clarkson's books, of your choice.
There are three ways to help us spread the word.
1 - Share the link - www.storyformed.com on your Facebook page.
2 -Share the Storyformed Facebook page
3 - Tweet a link to www.storyformed.com
To make sure you are entered into the drawing, LEAVE A COMMENT and tell us where you shared.