Past Reading Lists
Fall 2015
- “Has Fiction Lost Its Faith?” Paul Elie
- “The Catholic Writer Today,” Dana Gioia
- “Cultural Anorexia: Doubting the Decline of Faith in Fiction,” Gregory Wolf
- Charming Billy, Alice McDermott
- Mariette in Ecstasy, Ron Hansen
- “The Catholic Imagination in Modern American Poetry,” James Matthew Wilson
- Some Permanent Things, James Matthew Wilson
Spring 2016
- In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, Tobias Wolff
- “How to Think Like a Poet,” Ryan Wilson
- Selected Poems, Ryan Wilson
- 99 Poems: New and Selected, Dana Gioia
Summer 2016
- Lit: A Memoir, Mary Karr
- Gilead, Marilynne Robison
Fall 2016
- Silence, Shusaku Endo
- The Oracles Fell Silent, Lee Oser
- Saint Sinatra and Other Poems, Angela Alaimo O'Donnell
- St. Paul Lives Here (In Minnesota), Zach Czaia
Spring 2017
- "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Catholic Novelists and their Readers," Flannery O'Connor
- "The Five Wounds" and "Night at the Fiestas," Kirsten Valdez Quade
- What Happened to Sophie Wilder, Christopher Beha
- Film: Silence (Martin Scorsese, 2016)
Summer 2017
- Wolf in White Van, John Darnielle
- "The Detective of Dreams" and "The Fifth Head of Cerberus," Gene Wolfe
- Film: The Innocents (Anne Fontaine, 2016)
- Boxers & Saints, Gene Luen Yang
Fall 2017
- Redeployment by Phil Klay
- The Stranger World by Ryan Wilson
- Some Bore Gifts by A.G. Harmon
- Film: Lady Bird (Dir. Greta Gerwig).
Spring 2018
- The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott.
- Universal Harvester by John Darnielle.
- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.
- Film: Tree of Life (Dir. Terrence Malick).
Summer 2018
- 99 Stories of God by Joy Williams
- LaRose by Louise Erdrich
- I Want to Show You More by Jamie Quatro
- Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin
Fall 2018
- This Our Exile by Joshua Hren
- Confession of X by Suzanne Wolfe
- The Cloister by James Carroll
Spring 2019
- Oregon Confetti by Lee Oser
- The Hummingbird's Daughterby Luis Alberto Urrea
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Signals by Tim Gautreaux
- Walking to Martha's Vineyardby Franz Wright
Summer 2019
- Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley (film and play)
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Fall 2019
- Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography by Richard Rodriguez
- The Original Prin by Randy Boyagoda
- The Five Quintets by Micheal O'Siadhail
Past Events
- "The Hanging God"
Poetry reading by James Matthew Wilson Friday, November 15, 2019 @ 5:30pm. May Gallery, Mullen Library, CUA. - "CUA Contemporary Catholic Writers: One Reading Group's Search for the "Radical Center" in the Catholic Literary Landscape"
Panel Presentation by Jessica Schnepp, Jonathan Wanner, Robert Sherron, Bethany Besteman at the Catholic Imagination Pre-Conference at Loyola University, Chicago. September 19, 2019 @ 10:30am. - "Truth in Fiction: Contemporary Literature and the Catholic Imagination."
Library exhibit and reception at Mullen Library. Friday, November 16, 2018 @ 5pm. -
"Why Theology Mattered to Shakespeare: Chaucer, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Predestination Crisis"
Lecture by Lee Oser. Wednesday, September 12, 2018 @ 5pm. Pryzbyla Center, Great Room C. Sponsored by ALSCW. -
"The Literature You Save May Be Your Own: Forging an Idiom of Continuity in the Catholic Literary Tradition"
Lecture and new fiction by Joshua Hren and Lee Oser. Wednesday, September 12, 2018 @ 7pm. Pryzbyla Center, Great Room C. -
"Traditions of Eloquence: The Jesuits and Modern Rhetorical Studies"
Lecture by Cinthia Gannett and John Brereton. Wednesday, October 24, 2018 @ 2pm. Pryzbyla Center, Great Room C, Catholic University of America. -
"Saints, Sinners, and Pilgrims: Incarnations of the Catholic Immagination"Poetry reading by Angela Alaimo O'Donnell. Friday, April 6, 2018 at 6pm.May Gallery, Mullen Library, CUA.
- Some Bore Gifts
Short Fiction reading with A.G. Harmon. Wednesday, November 15, 2017, Columbus School of Law Courtroom. 5:30pm. - Poetry Night with Ryan Wilson and Maryann Corbett
6pm, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, Keane Auditorium (McGivney Hall), The Catholic University of America. - Flannery O'Connor: Acts of Redemption
Film Screening & Discussion with Mark Bosco, SJ: 6pm, Friday, September 29, 2017, Hannan 108, The Catholic University of America - "Communion of Saints"
Poetry reading with Susan L. Miller: 6pm Thursday, March 16, 2017, Hannan 106, The Catholic University of America - "Creating Flannery O'Connor"
Guest Lecture with Daniel Moran, Ph.D.: 6pm Thursday, February 9, 2017, Keane Auditorium, The Catholic University of America - "St. Peter's B-List"
Poetry Reading with Rachel Graham, Terry Kirts, Gerry LaFemina, Susan L. Miller, Angela Alaimo O'Donnell, Susanna Rich, and editor Mary Ann B. Miller: 6pm Friday, November 18, 2016, Hannan 108, the Catholic University of America - "Uncommon Grace: The Life of Flannery O'Connor"
Film Screening and Discussion with Bridget Kurt and Dan Kurt: 5pm Friday, November 11, 2016, Hannan 108, The Catholic University of America - Poetry Reading with Dana Gioia
6pm Friday, April 22, 2016 Keane Auditorium, The Catholic University of America - “The Stranger World”
An Evening of Poetry and Music with Ryan Wilson: 7pm Monday, March 21, 2016 Pryzbyla Center Great Room A, The Catholic University of America - "Art is a Jealous God: Aesthetic Autonomy and the Claims of the Divine"
Guest lecture with James Matthew Wilson, Ph.D. (Villanova University): 6pm Friday, February 5, 2016 Hannan 108, The Catholic University of America