Something of a minor Literary renaissance happened in midcentury America from an unexpected source.
This mid-20th century renaissance by nun poets is more than a Literary footnote; it is a case study in how women negotiate tradition and individual creativity..
Their poetry is devotional and deft, complex and contemplative.
The Habit of Poetry brings together these women and others.
Madeleva Wolff, poet and university president, transformed Catholic higher education.
Sister M.
Carmelite nun Sister Jessica Powers published widely.
Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn, a critic and poet, was praised by Flannery O\'Connor and kept long correspondences with many of the best poets of her generation.
But Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the 17th century Mexican poet-nun famous for her iconic verses and trailblazing sense of the role of religious creative women, set the Literary precedent for pious work from women. have been both a blessing and a burden--creating the sense that male clergy alone have written substantial work.
The Literary creations of poetic priests like Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.
J., and Robert Southwell, S.
J.
Their Literary moment has faded into history, but it is worth revisiting.
Nuns were writing poetry and being published and praised in secular venues.
Something of a minor Literary renaissance happened in midcentury America from an unexpected source
