Phil Christman is the author of Midwest Futures, How to Be Normal, and, most recently, Why Christians Should Be Leftists. He teaches first-year writing at the University of Michigan, and his essays and reviews have appeared in Plough, The Christian Century, Paste, Books & Culture, and other publications.
Posts By This Author
The Pilgrimage of Annie Dillard
09-17-2026
Illustration by Ryan McQuade / Sojourners
Annie Dillard, one of the greatest American writers, considered her own first book on writing a failure. At least, she called it “dull” and told an interviewer that she “never should have published it.”