To keep the Catholic imagination on fire, we need publishers to fan the flame. This past week, I was speaking with an editor at a Catholic press who said she’s been fighting for years to encourage Catholic publishers to publish fiction. Thankfully, publishers such as Slant Books are ensuring that belles lettres do not go out of style. If you do not know about Slant Books, read publisher and editor Gregory Wolfe’s explanation of their vision.
In addition to fiction by Catholic writers, Slant publishes poetry, such as Ordinary Time and All That Will be New by Paul Mariani, who received the Flannery O’Connor Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 in Chicago and will be reading at this year’s conference. A 2022 award will be given on Friday evening, so please join us for that celebration.
Other Slant featured authors include Ron Hansen. Known for his award-winning novels, such as Mariette in Ecstasy and Exiles, his memoir Hotly in Pursuit of the Real opens a window into Hansen’s Catholic imagination, where he shows readers the places, traditions, and books that have helped him bear the flame.
The editor of Slant Books, Gregory Wolfe will be presenting on an editors’ panel as well as a panel on twentieth-century Catholic fiction. Other editors on his panel include Editor-in-Chief, Mary Ann Miller of Presence:A Journal of Catholic Poetry, which will feature new narrative poems by CIC 2015 keynote Julia Alvarez; Bernardo Aparicio García, the founder and publisher of Dappled Things; and Tod Worner of Evangelization and Culture. If you are a reader, subscribe to these journals. Writers, submit your work. For these journals are carrying the flame of the Catholic imagination!
Remember that spots are limited for the 2022 Catholic Imagination Conference, Sept 30-Oct 1. Please register now. Let us know if you are interested in sponsoring a session. We look forward to seeing you all in Dallas!