Saturday, January 18, 2025
The Department of Narrative Arts is proud to present the inaugural HCU Narrative Arts Conference. This conference will feature a dynamic array of guest speakers who explore the craft of storytelling in fiction, film, video games, and more. With acclaimed songwriter and novelist Andrew Peterson opening the conference and featured sessions with bestselling author Bret Lott, Emmy Award-winning actor Tony Hale, and groundbreaking game designer Chris Skaggs, this year’s Narrative Arts Conference will help writers and artists explore how to develop narrative skills, navigate creative industries, and pursue excellence in community. Anchored by a shared Christian foundation, the Department of Narrative Arts and our guests hope to inspire and encourage a new generation of storytellers.
Join us in the new Morris Center for Law & Liberty — the event will begin in the President’s Gallery on the second floor of Independence Hall and breakout sessions will be held in Founder’s Hall. (CAMPUS MAP)
Schedule and Break Out Session Descriptions
| TIME | SPEAKER | SESSION |
| 9:00-10:00 AM | Andrew Peterson Morris Center for Law & Liberty |
The Morning Star Rises: The Creative Process as Light in the Darkness Andrew will explore how art dispels the shadows of the past and present and points toward a promised future. |
| 10:30-11:30 AM | Breakout Sessions | |
| Bret Lott Morris Center for Law & Liberty |
The Little Things that Count: Why Detail Matters Drawing on his own experience as a writer and teacher, Bert Lott will give a presentation on the importance of detail in writing fiction. |
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| Chris Hartwell Cinematic Arts FH 302 |
From Dream to Screen: The Making of ‘Do No Harm’ How does a filmmaker turn an idea into a feature-length reality? Join filmmaker Chris Hartwell as he takes you behind the scenes of his debut feature, Do No Harm. From crafting a compelling story and securing financing to casting acclaimed actors like Harry Shum Jr. and Ronny Chieng, Chris will share his journey—successes, struggles, and lessons learned. Whether you’re an aspiring filmmaker or a seasoned storyteller, this session will inspire and equip you to take the next step in your creative process. |
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| Brandi Sea Heft-Kniffin Digital Media FH 102 |
Start with Words: Unlock Stories That Stick
What if the secret to unforgettable storytelling isn’t just a random spark of inspiration, but the incredible power of words? What if you could stop staring at a blank page, waiting for ideas, and instead unlock creative concepts that tell stories only you can tell—stories that stick? In this session, award-winning designer and creative strategist Brandi Sea Heft-Kniffin will show you how to start with words to create bold, impactful concepts and uncover what she calls “uncommon inspiration”—the type you won’t find by scrolling Instagram. Through her proven process, you’ll learn how to:-Tap into words to unlock the unique concepts only you can express.
Whether you’re looking for a concept for graphic design, film, video games, or fiction, this session will empower you to adopt a process-driven approach to creativity that works for any medium. With practical tools and insights, you’ll discover how to develop concepts and tell stories that truly stand out. If you’re ready to overcome creative block, start with words, and create work that resonates, this session is for you. |
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| 11:30-1:00 PM | Lunch Break | |
| 1:00–2:00 PM | Breakout Sessions | |
| Kionna LeMalle Creative Writing FH 302 |
Voice and Logic: The Intersection of Fiction and Rhetoric When it comes to fiction, we often limit our craft talk to such techniques as dialogue, gesture, and free-indirect style. We examine the role of plot, conflict, and character, but we may not immediately think of the tools of rhetoric. In this session, executive writer and novelist Kionna LeMalle, shares how effective use of logos, pathos, ethos, and kairos come to play in our fiction writing. She will also provide insight into how her fiction training equipped her to write non-fiction daily and why all rhetoricians should study the artform. |
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| Tony Hale Cinematic Arts Morris Center for Law & Liberty |
A Discussion with Tony Hale A wide-ranging conversation about success, failure, ambition, faith and doubt with three-time Emmy winner, Tony Hale. |
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| Jaclyn Parrish Digital Media FH 102 |
The Theology of Fun Our culture is pathologically preoccupied with productivity. Religious voices insist everything must drive a “spiritual” profit (Read your Bible! Share the gospel! Make yourself useful to the Kingdom of God!), and non-religious voices insist everything must drive a material profit (Wake up, you need to make money!). This leaves little space for art, music, or beauty, much less games, goofiness, or fun. However, when we look at God’s design, we discover something incredible. Fun is not extra to the human life; it is essential. In fact, God made you…for fun. |
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| 2:15-3:15 PM | Breakout Sessions | |
| Lesley Clinton Creative Writing FH 302 |
Poetry Workshop: Developing Authorial Restraint Because poets work in the interior landscape of epiphany, we often experience two related temptations: the twin siren songs of editorialization and self-expression. This workshop will provide strategies for applying authorial restraint in the revision process. Participants will learn to assess drafts for elements that do not serve the poem and to reveal interior treasures with nuance and control. The workshop will include a presentation component and a writing exercise. |
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| Christian Scott Cinematic Arts FH 102 |
So… Tell Me About Yourself As a writer, you will meet, talk to, and interview with dozens of people throughout your career. Many of those conversations are you asking that people to invest in you. That could be giving you a job, financing your project, or choosing to represent your career. At the end of the day, you’re asking that person to put their reputation and resources on the line for you. This session is designed to help you stand out as a trustworthy person. |
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| Chris Skaggs Digital Media Morris Center for Law & Liberty |
The Imladris Thesis As video games continue their rapid ascent to being the most widespread and influential artistic medium in the world we, as Christ-In-Us Creators, ought consider how we can best embrace this pivotal moment in technology and entertainment so as to represent Heaven to Earth in this fascinating new medium. |
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| 3:30–4:30 PM | Bret Lott, Andrew Peterson, Tony Hale, Chris Skaggs Morris Center for Law & Liberty |
Closing Panel These four famous artists come together for a wide-ranging discussion on being artists and being Christians. This session will be moderated by Bret Lott. |
2025 Keynote: Andrew Peterson
Recording artist, songwriter, producer, filmmaker, publisher and award-winning author of The Wingfeather Saga, Andrew Peterson’s is also founder and president of The Rabbit Room, which has published thirty books to date and fosters community and spiritual formation through music, story and art. Recently launching the film and TV production company, Shining Isle Productions, to produce an animated film based on his bestselling books, his The Warden and the Wolf King (2014) won Children’s Book of the Year in 2015 from WORLD Magazine.
Featured Speakers
Bret Lott is the bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including Letters & Life: On Being a Writer, on Being a Christian and Jewel, an Oprah Book Club novel. He has served as an editor for The Southern Review and the journal Crazyhorse. Currently, Lott teaches creative writing at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. He has also been named a Fulbright Senior American Scholar and served as a member of the National Council on the Arts.
Join Us for a Special Reading with Bret before the conference begins on Friday, January 17 at 7:00 PM in Belin Chapel. This reading is free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Tony Hale is a three time Emmy award winning actor known for his work on The Decameron, Arrested Development, Veep, Being the Ricardos, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and Toy Story 4. Recently, he was in Pixar’s summer blockbuster Inside Out 2 as the voice of “Fear”, and Netflix’s hit Woman of the Hour. Hale also co-wrote the children’s book Archibald’s Next Big Thing which later became an animated series on Netflix and Peacock.
Chris Skaggs is the Founder and Chief Operations Officer of Soma Games and Soma SoulWorks. Created in 2005 Soma Games fancies itself the “C.S. Lewis of video games” and strives to do the epithet honor by making artistically excellent games for people who may never go to church, but find themselves having fun while pondering eternal things. Soma SoulWorks is the ministry side of Soma’s coin producing teaching and podcasts that seek to reach young adult “creatives” especially those working in arts and entertainment. Chris is an Intel Black Belt recipient and frequent speaker at mobile and game-developer conferences, including GDC (Game Developer Conference), CGDC (Christian Game Developers Conference), Casual Connect, Serious Play, and Intel Innovators Forum.
Creative Writing Track
Cinematic Arts Track
Digital Media Track
Lesley Clinton’s chapbook of poems, Calling the Garden from the Grave, placed 2nd among books of creative verse in the National Federation of Press Women 2021 Communications Contest. Clinton was named a runner-up for the 2024 St. Austin Review Prize in Poetry. In 2019 Clinton received the Lucille Johnson Clarke Memorial award from Houston Poetry Fest. Her poetry and book reviews have appeared in publications such as America, Dappled Things, THINK, Mezzo Cammin, The Windhover, Presence, Reformed Journal, Christianity & Literature, Texas Poetry Calendar, Solum Journal, Modern Age, and Ekstasis Magazine. Clinton is English Department Chair at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. She serves as a board member of Catholic Literary Arts (CLA) and Director of the CLA High School Writers Institute.
Christian Scott holds an MFA in Screenwriting from HCU and a Bachelor’s in Theatre. She served as a staff writer on Disney’s “Bunk’d”. She is a Screencraft Finalist and a two-time Women Write Now Finalist, produced by Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Productions. Her short, The Black Experience, was an official selection of eleven film festivals, and won Best Micro Comedy at Houston Comedy Film Festival. She loves writing comedies because there are some topics that get approached better when you make some laugh. Plus, who doesn’t love to laugh?
Brandi Sea Heft-Kniffin is an award-winning Creative Director, Designer, Strategist, and Educator. She is also the Chief Inspiration Officer of her own company, executive producer of Design Speaks Podcast, and Creator of The Strategic Process™ ideating framework. Brandi has been awarded for her poster design work including Judge’s Choice at the 2016 Adobe Creative Jam. In 2017, she was also awarded three Addys and the prestigious “Albuquerque 30″ award from the American Advertising Federation, which celebrates the 30 greatest ideas of the year and has also taught Advanced Design Concepts at her alma mater. Brandi has spoken virtually at a variety of conferences from California to The Netherlands and has been a judge for multiple design competitions, portfolio reviews, as well as over a half dozen Adobe Creative Jam events.
Kionna Walker LeMalle is an executive writer by day, a fiction writer by night, and an adjunct professor for HCU’s Department of Narrative Arts. Her work has been featured in The Southern Quarterly, Delta Education Journal, table//FEAST, The First Line, and Inked in Gray’s Devotion in the Open Air. In 2023, she won the Lee Smith Novel Prize for Behind the Waterline (Blair Publisher, 2025). Kionna has been married to her pastor and best friend, Averri LeMalle, for twenty-six years. Together, they have four children and one granddaughter to whom she hopes to leave a legacy of faith, love, and story.
Chris Hartwell is an award-winning screenwriter and director, and a professor in HCU’s Cinematic Arts program. Hartwell’s short film, The Way That I Take, won several notable awards and screened at prestigious festivals including the Austin Film Festival, Lone Star Film Festival, and Dances with Films. His debut feature film, a medical thriller, is anticipated to premiere in 2025, while he’s in post-production on a new project inspired by his time working as a character performer and trainer at Disneyland. Hartwell has an MFA in Screenwriting and has taught at HCU since 2017.
Jaclyn S. Parrish is the director of marketing at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. She holds a B.A. in English and Christian Studies from Dallas Baptist University, and an M.A. in Religion from the B. H. Carroll Theological Institute. She has written for platforms such as The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and Christ & Pop Culture, and is the author of All in Good Fun: A Theology of Fun (and Why Christians Should Have More of It), available August 2025.
Hosted on HCU’s campus in the Morris Family Center for Law & Liberty
January 18, 2025 | 9 am – 5 pm
Registration Information
- $50 for the general public
- FREE for HCU students, alumni, faculty
Join us for a Special Reading with Bret Lott
Friday, January 17 at 7:00 PM
Belin Chapel | Houston Christian University
This reading is free and open to the general public.
