Friday Links, January 1, 2021

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, Anno Domino 2021

The Strangeness of the Good: A Poet and an Archbishop Speak

The Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship is sponsoring this free online event featuring Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and James Matthew Wilson—with readings from Wilson's new book of poetry, The Strangeness of the Good.

“Others have remarked how hard it is to launch a book in this present, woeful age. No public readings, no tours, no launch receptions . . . no fun.

"The Benedict XVI Institute has kindly offered to help make up for the loss in the only way it could. San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will host me for a reading and discussion of the new book in light of the times we live in -- which are, in any case, the subject of the book. Join us!"—James Matthew Wilson

2020 in Poetry

Recommended by Katy Carl, Dappled Things Editor-in-Chief. Aarik Danielson at Relief Journal writes:

“My favorite poetry texts of 2020 offered places to burrow into comfort without entering echo chambers. They charged through the overgrowth, clearing any number of paths I wished to take—through rage, sorrow, and desire to somewhere resembling peace and affirmation."

When Salvador Dalí Created Christmas Cards That Were Too Avant Garde for Hallmark (1960)

Open Culture quoted Ana Swenson from the Washington Post:

“'Hallmark began reproducing the paintings and designs of contemporary artists on its Christmas cards in the late 1940s, an initiative that was led by company founder Joyce Clyde Hall,' writes the Washington Post‘s Ana Swanson.

And went on to say:

“Hallmark signed Dalí on in 1959. The painter . . . asked the greeting-card giant for '$15,000 in cash in advance for 10 greeting card designs, with no suggestions from Hallmark for the subject or medium, no deadline and no royalties.' The designs Dalí came up with included 'Surrealist renditions of the Christmas tree and the Holy Family,' as well as some 'vaguely unsettling; images, such as a headless angel playing a lute and the three wise men atop some insane-looking camels.”

The Emerging Catholic Literary Renaissance: An Interview with Poet James Matthew Wilson

The first of my two planned interview articles with James Matthew Wilson is now in the Latin Mass Magazine's Christmas 2020 issue. (Another interview with questions more-focused on Wilson's latest book of poetry, The Strangeness of the Good, is slated for the April edition of Dappled Things.)

How the Sun Illuminates Spanish Missions On the Winter Solstice

Rev. Michael Rennier, DT Web Editor, recommends this Smithsonian article.

“At dawn on Dec. 21, a sunbeam enters each of these churches and bathes an important religious object, altar, crucifix or saint’s statue in brilliant light. On the darkest day of the year, these illuminations conveyed to native converts the rebirth of light, life and hope in the coming of the Messiah.”

Roseanne T. Sullivan

After a career in technical writing and course development in the computer industry while doing other writing on the side, Roseanne T. Sullivan now writes full-time about sacred music, liturgy, art, and whatever strikes her Catholic imagination. Before she started technical writing, Sullivan earned a B.A. in English and Studio Arts, and an M.A. in English with writing emphasis, and she taught courses in fiction and memoir writing. Her Masters Thesis consisted of poetry, fiction, memoir, and interviews, and two of her short stories won prizes before she completed the M.A. In recent years, she has won prizes in poetry competitions. Sullivan has published many essays, interviews, reviews, and memoir pieces in Catholic Arts Today, National Catholic Register, Religion.Unplugged, The Catholic Thing, and other publications. Sullivan also edits and writes posts on Facebook for the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, Catholic Arts Today, the St. Ann Choir, El Camino Real, and other pages.

https://tinyurl.com/rtsullivanwritings
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Portrait of a Paralyzed Priesthood: James Joyce’s “The Sisters”