Friday Links, February 5, 2021
Dr. Anthony Esolen on “Straightening the Crooked," tonight; Reminder: Josephine Bakhita Benefit for Survivors of Sex Trafficking; Reminder: Catholic Literary Arts Lenten competition deadline; CLA ekphrastic poetry competition submissions open; Dana Gioia on Cheever's unforgettable voice—and personna; David Clayton and Fr. Michael Rennier on how to form children to resist the dangers of the Internet.
Friday Night Lecture Reservation: Dr. Anthony Esolen on “Straightening the Crooked: Purgatory as Spiritual Infirmary”
Dappled Things Contributing Editor, Fr. Michael Rennier shared this event.
THIS FRIDAY: February 5, 2021
4:30 PM PST, 5:30 PM MST, 6:30 PM CST, 7:30 PM EST
Poet and Educator Dr. Anthony Esolen will talk at Magdalene College's Friday Night Lecture (an online event)
Register to attend. A few hours prior to the live online event, you will receive information via email on how to attend from your computer.
REMINDER: Benefit for Survivors of Trafficking - St. Josephine Bakhita
Monday, February 8, 2021
5:30 PM PST, 6:30 PM MST, 7:30 PM CST, 8:30 PM EST
Two Catholic Literary Arts Competitions
Reminder: Catholic Literary Arts Lenten Writing Contest
The contest (announced here two weeks ago) closes midnight Sunday, February 7, 2021.
“As we approach the Liturgical season of Lent, let us ‘walk with Christ,’ then share those reflections in poetry or prose.
“We are eager to read your unpublished poetry and prose on the meaning of Walking with Christ during Lent, a season culminating in the Resurrection.”—Catholic Literary Arts
Catholic Literary Arts 2021 Sacred Poetry Contest
DT Editor-in-Chief Katy Carl writes, "Submissions just opened—let's be sure to share this soon. . . ."
Opens 02/01/21 for submissions.Ends
04/30/21 at midnight.
“In seeking to encourage and elevate the creation of Catholic poetry, we are launching a poetry contest dedicated to poems that explicitly reference elements of Catholic spirituality, Sacred Tradition, the Bible, or Catholic devotion. These poems will seek to reveal the incarnational mystery of God's love and grace throughout creation."
All poems submitted must be ekphrastic poems, that is, they must be literary responses to one of the works of art shown below.
Dana Gioia remembers a week with John Cheever at Stanford: “I was stunned by his voice.”
Katy Carl also recommends this article at The Book Haven "blog for the written word," by literary biographer Cynthia Haven at the Stanford University website.
“In his new book of recollections: Studying with Miss Bishop: Memoirs from a Young Writer’s Life, [Dana Gioia] the former National Endowments for the Arts chairman recalls his all-too-brief week with Cheever. 'I was dazzled by his talk which could make a mortgage or a report card shimmer like a sacred script.'
”The book, published by Paul Dry Books, has the distinction of being one of the few books ever to go into a third printing before it was officially out, thanks to pre-orders."
What do you all think? I think it's an interesting theory, and I totally agree children should be formed by sacred art, as well as by the Scriptures and uplifting literature, but really there's no real way to test Clayton's theory that showing children the good would drive out the temptation to dwell on the bad. You'd have to follow his guidance by faith. You couldn't do a reliable study without exposing a group of children to the dangers of the Internet—and by giving them that freedom you would risk their being exposed to images that once seen could not be unseen and whose effects could be pernicious.
Fr. Rennier adds: "Here's my write-around."
