Friday Links, April 22, 2022
+ “Creative writing and evangelizing” course—Word on Fire.
+ Caryll Houselander review.
+ Catholic Women Writers Series by CUA.
+ “The Architect” video about the architect of the St. Michael’s Norbertine Abbey.
+ Article about the architect in the above video.
+ Poetry reading by two poets who are also a doctor and a lawyer.
Creative Writing and Evangelization—Word on Fire Institute
Ann Thomas, DT managing editor, writes about the above-linked course description, “Wondered if anyone is familiar with this.”
You can view a video introduction to Dr. Holly Ordway’s course on the above-linked page. The course is free for those who sign up for monthly membership at Word on Fire.
The discussion moved on to sharing resources to suggest to writers who want feedback and guidance. Do you have any suggestions for online communities that support writers? Tell us in the comments.
Caryll Houselander and our ‘psychological suffering’
Father Michael Rennier, Dappled Things web editor and contributor, recommends the above-linked article by Heather King at AngelusNews.com. King writes there about Caryll Houselander, a British mystic and spiritual writer whose books were best sellers in her day, and King mentions Caryll Houselander: That Divine Eccentric, a biography of Houselander by the author’s contemporary, Maisie Ward.
Catholic Women Writers
A New Book Series from CUA Press
Katy Carl, DT editor in chief, suggests the above linked article for Friday Links, and her recommendation was Liked by three other editors.
“SO excited about this -- I have an interview with the series editors coming out in the summer (SSPP) issue!
“CUA Press is bringing out a series of works by ‘forgotten’ Catholic women novelists—many of whose names you might know for other reasons (Caryll Houselander, Josephine Ward) or who were successful in the mainstream of their day (Alice Thomas Ellis, even Muriel Spark) but have typically been left off academic syllabi and out of the round of reprints at small presses. CUA is bringing them back in a series to restore the sense of their contribution to the overall culture of Catholic arts & letters & I am beside myself with glee.”—Katy Carl
I wrote back{
“I can totally understand your enthusiasm. When I discovered Alice Thomas Ellis, she won my undying devotion. Look forward to reading some of the others.”
Caryll Houselander’s mentioned again. The first volume in the series on Catholic Women Writers who have undeservedly been forgotten will be Caryll Houselander’s only novel The Dry Wood. After the republication of the Ward biography of Houselander (mentioned above), a book by Alice Thomas Ellis The 27th Kingdom, is coming up too.
Incidentally, I chanced across a review here of The 27th Kingdom, which says this about Ellis:
“She is one of the best English writers of the 20th century, yet most of her books are out-of-print. She deserves a revival.”
Here’s hoping this new CUA series will bring Ellis and the other worthy women writers the revival they deserve.
“The Architect”
Video about the architect of the new St. Michael’s Abbey for the Norbertines of Orange County, CA.
“How do you build a new abbey in a sort of a classical style in this day and age? . . We do not reject anything in the new that is good, but we hold onto all that was good in the old.”
The Norbertines live a 900-year tradition of a common life of liturgical prayer and care for souls. They needed to build a new abbey in Orange County, California because of all the vocations they were getting. So they contacted Jean-Louis Pagès, who did the design for the famous Le Barroux Abbey in France. More about Pagès in the next link.
Monastery Architect Jean-Louis Pagès
The above-linked recent article by John Paul Sonnen at Liturgical Arts Journal discusses the work of Jean-Louis Pagès in more detail.
“His fans and critics alike agree that his monastic architecture stands out, setting him apart above all others in France. Indeed, the monastic architecture of Jean-Louis is what he will be best remembered for, standing on the authority of the past, bringing to mind a popular quote from Chesterton in The Everlasting Man: ‘The boldest plans for the future invoke the authority of the past.’"
Spirit, Body, Word: An Evening of Sacramental Poetry
Free. Registration required (click the above link or here).
Friday Apr 29, 2022 7:30 PM EDT
Poets Brian Volck and Laura Reece Hogam, who are also respectively a doctor and a lawyer.
In-person at Laubacher Hall, St. Mary’s Seminary and University, 5400 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210.
Livestream: https://vimeo.com/event/1982975
