Pia de Solenni brings charity to a hot button issue, expressing her appreciation for Cardinal Kasper–with whom she disagrees about the issue of reception of communion for divorced and remarried Catholics–in her very thoughtful review of Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, the Ancients invade your iPad as the Loeb Classical Library goes digital, and James Matthew Wilson reviews Cave Art at the Weekly Standard, Timothy Steele’s new book of poetry that includes pieces first published in Dappled Things. Think you’d like to get your own books published? Read this first. And celebrate the return of a young man who perseveres in pursuing the writing life against all the best advice in this wonderful manifesto for Marc Barnes’s re-inaugurated Bad Catholic blog.
Good to see this Monday Night Linksfeature, which I hadn’t noticed before.
I enjoyed the article about the futiity of getting an MFA and PhD in creative writing, since I got an MA with emphasis in writing (with a thesis consisting of my own writings), and then I had to move on to technical writing because I needed to make a living for myself and two children after a divorce. I think that in reality, one learns how to write by reading great writers.
One benefit writing programs can bring you besides more motivation to write for assignments is that if you are lucky you can get to know people who can help you get published. And if you go to the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, you’ll have a sterling credential that will open doors. I haven’t heard of any other writing degree that carries the same cachet.
In Mark Barne’s blog, I especially like the idea that we need to show the beauty of our faith. We don’t win arguments but hearts: “The fundamental question of the efficacy of any person “’preaching Catholicism’ is not simply whether in all arguments the Church emerges victorious, but whether the Church is beautiful in victory, revealed as she is — lovely, holy, sane, sound, now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen.
“To convince a man of something as wonderful as the fact that the sun shines, it is not enough to persuade him by argument and polemic: Place him in its rays until he feels the heat on his cheeks.”