"We are watchful for works written in a contemporary idiom that yet reach the roots of fundamental questions, that honor the almost three-thousand-year-long conversations committed to these questions, and that incite our hunger for the splendor of truth."

Masthead for Wiseblood Books

We are delighted to welcome to the podcast Mary Finnegan, deputy editor at Wiseblood Books, a small Catholic press which fosters works of fiction, poetry, and philosophy. In our episode today we discuss the process of publishing, how to strive for excellent in craft while encouraging new writers, and publishing as a vocation. We dive into Dana Gioia's essay "The Catholic Writer Today" and address the problems facing Catholic writing and publishing in our current times.

Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Mary Finnegan

Follow us on social media: @seekingwatson @maryraphaela

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Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

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Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

Wiseblood Books: https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/

University of St Thomas: Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Dappled Things: https://www.dappledthings.org/

Works Mentioned

"The Catholic Writer Today" by Dana Gioia - Article in First Things

The Catholic Writer Today by Dana Gioia - Monograph by Wiseblood

Mystery and Manners by Flannery O'Connor

"Christianity and Poetry" by Dana Gioia - Article in First Things

Christianity and Poetry by Dana Gioia - Monograph by Wiseblood

Under Satan's Sun by Georges Bernanos

The Demons: A Double-Volume Novel by Heimito von Doderer

Seneca: The Madness of Hercules, Translated and Introduced by Dana Gioia 

Memory's Abacus: Poems by Anna Lewis

Painting Over the Growth Chart: Poems, by Dan Rattelle

Works of Mercy by Sally Thomas 

How to Think Like a Poet by Ryan Wilson

What We're Enjoying at the Moment

"A Theology of Fiction" by Cassandra Nelson

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene