Friday Links, April 1, 2022
+ Sacramental Poetry, livestreamed or in person in Maryland, April 29.
+ Is Catholic Art coming back? National Catholic Register poses a question many are asking.
+ Getty Museum show presents ancient Jewish and Catholic manuscripts—”in dialogue.”
+ Catholic Literary Arts Sacred Poetry Contest 2022—Ekphrastic writing (in response to sacred art). Deadline 11:59 PM April 30.
+ Upcoming Catholic Literary Arts course on how Dante will make you a better writer.
Spirit, Body, Word: An Evening of Sacramental Poetry
Brian Volck, MD, MFA, is a pediatrician, a poet, and a Benedictine oblate at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert.
Laura Reece Hogan, J.D., M.A., holds degrees in law and theology, and is a poet and a third order (secular) Carmelite.
Brian writes about this upcoming event at which both poets will read their work,
“Everyone's invited. If you can't come in person, the event will be livestreamed (see the info at the bottom of the flyer.)”
For your convenience, the links are repeated here:
Tickets: https://smsupoetty.event
Link to livestream: https://vimeo.com/event/1982975
Is Catholic Art Making a Comeback?
The above-linked article by Jeromy Darling at National Catholic Register gives a sampling of faith-filled Catholic groups and individuals producing music, art, and plays. A central concern for Dappled Things is fostering a Catholic literary renaissance, but groups like these provide additional signs of hope—for a Catholic renaissance of all the arts.
Top photo below: Floriani. Bottom Left: Pietà by Emily Anderson. Bottom Right: A scene from “Catholic Young Adults,” a musical from Missed the Boat Theater.
Coincidentally, I just received an email from Floriani’s Graham Crawley about the group’s remaining Lenten concerts in Phoenix. If you are in the area, check out the schedule above.
Painted Prophecy:The Hebrew Bible through Christian Eyes
Pages from thirty-four medieval Jewish and Catholic manuscripts and one printed Hebrew book from approximately the same time period are on display under plastic protectors in glass cases in a dimly lit room at the Getty Museum in LA until May 29. (All precautions serve to protect the ancient objects from light and other damage.) The museum’s commentary on the “Painted Prophecy” exhibit focuses on differences between how Jews view the events depicted in the five books of the Torah, and how Christians view the same books as part of our Old Testament, which we believe to have prophesied and prefigured the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ. The exhibit is well worth checking out if you are in the LA area. You can also view a walkthrough led by curator in the video below.
Initial S: David in Prayer (after 1205). Master of the Ingeborg Psalter (French, active about 1195 - about 1210). Currently on display in “Painted Prophecy” at the Getty Museum.
Catholic Literary Arts Sacred Poetry Contest 2022
Deadline 11:59 PM April 30, 2022.
Submitted poems must be ekphrastic poetry (literary responses to selected sacred art images). The contest judge is A. M. Juster, noted formalist poet, translator of poetry, and literary editor of Plough.
More about A.M. Juster, judge of the CLA Sacred Poetry Contest 2022, in the next two sections.
When politics gets out of hand, turn to this poem
The following quote with a familiar theme is from the above-linked interview with A.M. Juster, by Elizabeth Flock, at PBS.org.
“To be conservative and a poet greatly limits the places you can get published.”
Regard the Scuttlebutt as True
Also of interest is the above-linked essay by poet Paul Mariani at First Things, about poet A.M. Juster’s real name and alter ego, Michael J. Astrue, a lawyer who was commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2007 to 2013. And this quote is interesting too:
“It’s worth mentioning that Astrue, like a surprisingly large number of the old New Formalist crowd, is a serious Catholic, a man who sees his work at the Social Security Administration as nothing short of a vocation to do ‘both the right and the compassionate thing.’”—Paul Mariani
How Reading Dante Will Make You a Better Writer
April 19 & 26 7 PM CST, 5 PM PST. Instructor Larry Allums.
“An introduction to Dante’s Divine Comedy, with emphasis on his style of writing and the impact it has had on writers, especially Christian writers, beginning with its appearance in the 14th century and continuing to the present day.”
