tell me your favorite writers and poets!

maps are a simple metaphor for almost anything. i recently wrote an article that discussed some new findings regarding alzheimer's disease and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, and what did i use as the article's primary conceit? a map.

and now that i have a few dozen pictures of steve and his map, what better way to solicit advice than to reapply the map metaphor?

i'm looking for some amazing writers that tackle issues of faith and redemption in their work, and i'm hoping that you can be my map. i'm looking for big names and small names, novelists and poets--anyone that writes powerfully and writes well.

i'm particularly interested in writers that might creatively engage topics of atheism (i.e., faith, doubt, superstition, and science) and education (learning, growth, self-ization), but any literary scribe will do.

i'm gathering these names as part of a list of potential writers and interviewees for upcoming issues of the other journal.

if you think of someone, please let me know, and if you peruse my tentative list (including such longshots as david james duncan and marilynne robinson), and are in agreement or disagreement with my inclusion of some particular writers, be sure to tell me.

thanks!