The Habit of Poetry

The Habit of Poetry: Rediscovering Mid-Century American Nun Poets

Something of a minor literary renaissance happened in midcentury America from an unexpected source: Nuns were writing poetry and being published and praised in secular venues. Their literary moment has faded into history, but it is worth revisiting.

The literary creations of poetic priests like Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., and Robert Southwell, S.J. have been both a blessing and a burden–creating the sense tha…