New Hope for Catholic Literature

The article Pop Excess cites Catholic Writers Groups Foster Literary Revival (both from the National Catholic Register) as part of a hopeful change in pop culture beginning with literature, "There’s another reason the arts have become a cesspool: Call it a sin of omission by Catholics.

For decades, the Church in America has been marked by dissent. Catholic filmmakers, novelists and artists have been here all along — but their products have become morally indistinguishable from the culture’s.

But that’s starting to change. There are two examples in this issue: Tim Drake’s story about the new literary revival (page 2) and our profile of Jordan Allott on our Arts & Entertainment page (B3)."

Tim Drake's article notes one group in particular, "The Minnklings," who are "a Minnesotan take-off on C.S. Lewis’ and J.R.R. Tolkien’s writer’s group The Inklings. Among others, it includes a newspaper publisher, an academic journal editor, published fiction writers and journalists. They gather to critique one another’s work and share stories about getting published. The group is one of several literary efforts underway aimed at supporting existing Catholic writers and fostering new ones."

Some very exciting stuff going on here.