Catholic Story Club: Stories of Remembrance

Each week, participants will be provided with one short story to read, along with optional supplementary readings (author interviews and/or letters that will provide context for the story under discussion); we will meet during the noon hour of the four Mondays in November (November 3, 10, 17 and 24), over Zoom, to discuss the story. Each weekly discussion will stand alone (so participants do not need to be present for each session), but we will discuss how the themes in the stories speak to and connect with each other.

Participants can expect to develop specific skills related to close reading, literary analysis, critical thinking and personal expression, which they will be able to apply to any future reading encounter, but the heart of the course will be our engaged weekly discussions.

An underlying assumption of this course is that deep, sustained engagement with texts can be a transformative experience for the reader. When we take the time to slow down and look closely at the elements of craft that go into creating a work of fiction, and to reflect on the deeper themes that are embedded in the work, we come away from this encounter changed. This course will provide the opportunity to undertake this kind of engagement with a community of supportive fellow readers, guided by an expert in the field.

Week 1 (November 3): “Lions, Harts, Leaping Does” by JF Powers

Week 2 (November 10): “Half Spent” by Alice McDermott

Week 3 (November 17): “Christina the Astonishing” by Kirstin Valdez Quade

Week 4 (November 24): “Prayer in the Furnace” by Phil Klay

The class will meet for one-hour sessions on Zoom on November 3, 10, 17 and 24. All readings will be provided in PDF form.

Michael O’Connell is a writer, editor and educator who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since earning his Ph.D. in American literature from Loyola University Chicago, he has spent over a decade teaching literature and humanities courses at the university level, both online and in person. He is the author of “Startling Figures: Encounters with American Catholic Fiction” (Fordham University Press, 2023), editor of “Conversations with George Saunders” (University Press of Mississippi, 2022) and co-editor of The Journal of David Foster Wallace Studies. His essays have appeared in a wide array of peer-reviewed academic journals, as well as literary journals and websites. He is currently the inaugural fellow at the Jesuit Media Lab. You can find his reflections on literature, sports, spirituality, and the fleeting nature of beauty at Nothing Gold.