Interview on Catholic Writers with Paul Elie

[sr]

I interviewed the Catholic writer Paul Elie a few months ago, for a small magazine called Traces. Here is a copy of the interview online:


www.crossroadsnyc.com/beautyDCElie.html

He has some interesting things to say. I wonder what everyone here thinks.

[katycarl]

This is a great quote:

"It’s a Catholic temptation to try to devise a
program for everything. Those of us who are involved with the
movements... are often preoccupied
with how we can transform the culture, how we can make the culture
hospitable to artists and writers who are believing Catholics. It seems to
me that the lives and work of these writers tell us to go in the opposite
direction. Percy didn’t wait for the culture to be ready for his art, nor did
Merton, O’Connor, or Day. ... They framed
their art in recognition of a culture that wasn’t Catholic or necessarily
ready for their work, but they figured out how to get it to the public
anyway."

Both an encouragement and a challenge to us here at Dappled Things, I think. At the same time as we're carving out a niche for early artistic growth and development, we also want to serve as a springboard to bigger and less friendly forums. We don't want to limit ourselves to talking just to ourselves. He's right, though: that definitely is a temptation. I know I feel that urge as a writer, myself, but nobody grows in that way.