Dianne R. Portfleet, Walter Wangerin, Jr.: Artist, Poet, and Prophet (2007).
"Wangerin talks to us as his readers, and his words 'cause to be what had not been before.' His words create. And 'although only God performs this creative function purely, yet dimly and in a mimic,' Wangerin as a poet 'causes to be what had not been before. He sings and there gathers under the heart of his hearer the pressure of his music, the swelling of a new word, like an infant. . .' And just as this 'creating power of language is potent,' so Wangerin's writings are powerful, and we 'wince with wonder' as his 'language stuns us with a name--and with being.'" ---Dianne R. Portfleet