Friday Links, December 3, 2021
+ Dante again: this time he inspired a poetry contest.
+ CUA students launch a literary (and arts) magazine.
+ Joshua Hren will speak at a Scala webinar, and he’s got a website.
+ James Matthew Wilson’s latest, a review.
+ Katy Carl’s Praying the Great O Antiphons now available.
+ A related poem by me.
+ Rhonda Ortiz and Eleanor Bourg Nicholson talk about genre fiction.
+ Joseph Pearce is grateful for all we all do.
100 Days of Dante Poetry Contest
The sponsors of the ongoing 100 Days of Dante reading group have announced this contest for poems inspired by the Divine Comedy. The contest will be judged by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell and James Sale. Submissions due by January 31, 2022. The contest is free. Submit through the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing’s Submittable page here.
The 100 Days of Dante reading group is sponsored by the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing and the Society of Classical Poets. It began with Canto 1 of the Inferno on September 8th and is now at the beginning cantos of Purgatorio. You can still join the reading group here. I have, and although I don’t read all the cantos, I’m enjoying the structure, the links to the recommended cantos and related art, and, of course, I’m enjoying the cantos too. I have been dipping in and out of the Divine Comedy for many decades, and when I do the readings this time, I am finding how much I’ve missed or skipped over or simply didn’t savor thoroughly before.
Vermilion: Issue 1 | Winter 2021
Katy Carl, Dappled Things editor in chief, writes, “The first issue of CUA's Vermilion magazine is live! I had the privilege to speak to and hear from these marvelous student editors via Zoom last month and couldn't be more thrilled to see what they've been up to.” The first issue is at the above-linked page at Catholic University of America.
Painting of a Woman Sitting in a Chair by Christopher Vitale, Vermilion, Issue 1 Winter 2021
Scala Foundation Webinar with Joshua Hren on The Way of Beauty and the Way of Art
Joshua Hren, former DT editor, Wiseblood Press founder, co-founder of the MFA in Creative Writing at University of St. Thomas, Dallas, fiction writer and essayist writes,
Dear Friends,
The Scala Foundation has asked that I share the below announcement. I printed it off and held it up at the bus stop on the corner but everyone was too busy warming their hands around a trashcan fire, so I threw the paper in to help the flame flick out, then ducked inside to implore your aid in spreading the word to any who may be interested.Very gratefully, in Christ,
Joshua
In the afore-mentioned announcement, William Gonch, Scala Managing Director writes,
“Register now for our next Scala webinar on Thursday, December 9th at 12:00 Noon Eastern Time [Ed.: 9 AM Pacific]with Novelist Joshua Hren. . . .
“Hren and I will discuss new movements in religion and literature, the prospects for a renewal of Catholic literature, and the arguments of Hren's new book, How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic. Don't miss it!
“You can read more about what he's been up to at his new website HERE.”
The complicated story of Catholicism, religious tolerance, and early America
James Matthew Wilson, long-time Dappled Things contributor, poet, professor and co-founder, with Joshua Hren, of the MFA in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, reviews at Catholic World Report Michael D. Breidenbach’s Our Dear-Bought Liberty: Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America—which is published by Harvard University Press. He writes that the book “provides a welcome, if chastening, case for the compatibility of Catholicism and the American republic. But does anyone wish to hear such a case today?”
Praying the O Antiphons from December 17 to 24: A Guide by Katy Carl
From a post by Victoria Seed on Facebook:
“So excited to see the wonderfully talented Katy Carl's new book with CTS: The Catholic Publishing Charity in print! Praying the Great O Antiphons is the perfect book to offer quiet and spiritual reflection in the last busy days before Christmas. Thanks to Katy's lyrical prose and the stunning photography of fr Lawrence Lew it is also a superbly beautiful book! I HIGHLY recommend ordering early, especially from outside the UK as shipping times have been maddeningly unpredictable of late, but it is also available as an ebook on kindle, apple and kobo, so even if your package is stranded over the Atlantic you can definitely have a copy in time to pray O Sapientia on the 17th of December!”
Other praise from the combox: “I bought it. Beautiful!!!” “It is an excellent read.” You too can buy it here.
A Related Poem By Me
The Love Song of Our Lady of O was published at Catholic Arts Today and Catholic Literary Arts last December.
The poem is about what must have been the awe of Our Lady as she anticipated the upcoming birth of Jesus during the last days of Advent. A feast dedicated to the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was originally celebrated on December 18 in Spain as Nuestra Señora de la Expectación, then later in other Catholic countries. At some point, the feast came to be called Santa Maria de la O. Though it is reasonable to intuit that title is related to the O Antiphons, the Catholic Encyclopedia (1909) explains that name came into use because on that day the clerics in the choir after Vespers used to utter a loud and protracted "O," to express the longing of the universe for the coming of the Redeemer, and the O Antiphons developed separately.
This statue is one of many artistic works that piously present the natural bulging roundness of the glowing Virgin in the last days of her Divine pregnancy; although it is used in many online articles on the topic of Our Lady of O, the provenance of the statue could not be traced.
Eleanor Bourg Nicholson and Rhonda Ortiz: Werewolves and Fainting Damsels: The Genius and Challenges of Genre Fiction
Rhonda Ortiz, DT webmaster and co-founder of Chrism Press, writes:
“A few weeks ago, Eleanor Bourg Nicholson and I gave a live presentation, ‘Werewolves and Fainting Damsels: The Genius and Challenges of Genre Fiction,’ hosted by the Saint Benedict Institute. Eleanor brought the scholarship and a cute baby; I brought the Fabio jokes.
“The event turned out to be a mini-reunion for Dappled Things friends: among the attendees were James Matthew Wilson and his wife, as well as Dappled Things assistant editor and Chrism Press author Mary Jessica Woods.”
The event was also a family affair, since it was introduced by Rhonda Ortiz’s husband Dr. Jared Ortiz, executive director and co-founder of St. Benedict Institute. You can watch it here.
Joseph Pearce Is Grateful for Dappled Things and Chrism Press
Fr. Michael Rennier, married father of five, former Anglican clergyman turned Catholic priest—who is also DT web editor and contributor to Dappled Things and Aleteia among his many many other occupations, wrote this (in early October, oops):
“Managed to escape (most) of my children[1] last night and attend my customary once-per-year lecture (this annual lecture is the entirety of my ongoing intellectual formation). Joseph Pearce was asked during Q&A about current Catholic literature. His response mentioned Dappled Things and Chrism Press. I talked to him briefly after and he sends his gratitude for what you all do. Keep up the good work, everybody.”
[1] Now you see why I mentioned a few relevant biographical details.
