Friday Links, August 27, 2021
+ Tree of Life—Living vine crucifix
+ “Christian Humanism in Modern Literature” podcast by Lee Oser
+ A Christmas ghost story contest
+The Vocation of cinema and the nature of cinephilia by Thomas Mirus
The Tree of Life - Living Vine Crucifix
At Liturgical Arts Journal, founder Shawn Tribe posted the above-linked essay written by Michael Raia of Studio io—about a remarkable new Italianate style crucifix made for the University Catholic Center in Austin, Texas on commission from ALBL Oberammergau.
“By way of a personal aside, this particular style of crucifix is one of my own particular favourites, combining elements of both the Latin and Byzantine traditions—a synthesis that is emphasized all the more in this instance by the use of an actual carved corpus.”—Shawn Tribe
Christian Humanism in Modern Literature Podcast
Katy Carl, Dappled Things Managing Editor, recommends this podcast of a lecture given by Holy Cross College Professor of Literature and Religion, Lee Oser—who is the author of a related academic book titled: The Return of Christian Humanism: Chesterton, Eliot, Tolkien, and the Romance of History. Of course, Oser is more familiar to Dappled Things readers as a fiction writer, since two of his three well-received novels were published by Wiseblood Books. And you may have caught the two interviews DT has published with Oser. An interview with Oser on The Oracle fell Silent by Glenn Arbery is here and another interview with Oser by Joshua Hren about Oregon Confetti is here.
THE LAMP CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY CONTEST
Natalie Morril, DT Fiction Editor, suggests the above link and writes, “A writing contest that some of our readers (and editors!) might be interested in.”
This year The Lamp—a bi-monthly journal of Catholic letters—is sponsoring a Christmas ghost story competition. First place wins a much-better-than-average prize of $1,000.
I just discovered it actually used to be common to tell ghost stories at Christmas in England. For inspiration, you might want to check out this essay Ghosts on the Nog by Colin Fleming at Paris Review.
“The Spirit of Christmas Past meets Scrooge” (1868). By Sol Eytinge, Jr. From The Ghost of Christmas Past - Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol in Prose: being a Ghost Story of Christmas. Il. This work is in the public domain.
Welcome to The Vocation of Cinema!
Katy Carl writes, “Friend of the magazine Thomas Mirus, of the Catholic Culture podcast family, shared this project bringing a Catholic lens (no pun) to film criticism, which our readers may also enjoy.” Series I, “The Nature of Cinephilia” begins September 1.
“The Vocation of Cinema is a deep dive into thinking about the art of cinema with the philosophical and theological resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition.
“At its heart lie two questions:
“What is the unique calling of cinema among the arts and in the life of man?
“How ought mankind respond to this calling in the making and receiving of cinematic works?”
