Campus News
The Literary Corner:
“I think that some Catholic writers have been
beneath the radar,” Schnapp said. “Some of
them are names that even people who enjoy
reading for pleasure will say ‘I’ve never heard
of them.’ I think this anthology is sort of an
introduction to many authors who have written
a number of fine novels who are represented in
the book through their short stories.”
Seeds Scattered and Grown
The second volume of Adrian Dominican history,
written by SHU alum Sister Nadine Foley, OP,
was recently published.
The book, titled Seeds Scattered and Grown,
chronicles the Adrian Dominican history from
1924-1933, the Mother Augustine Walsh years.
The second volume follows the first, Amid the
Alien Corn, by Mary Philip Ryan, OP.
“What was once a field of alien corn was tilled
and furrowed to become a friendly ground,
rich with the promise of new seed. Acting
upon that promise, the followers of Mother
Camilla Madden, OP, zealously built upon the
foundation she had laid. They were able to
bring the new congregation from its obscurity
in a rural cornfield to recognition as a foremost
contributor to the rise of Catholic education
in the United States. The 10 years chronicled
here were indeed a period of Seeds Scattered
and Grown.” [Excerpt from Seeds Scattered
and Grown] .
McVeigh said this anthology will hopefully
appeal not only to readers interested in pre- and
post-Vatican II thought and artistic expression,
but to a larger audience as well. The fact that
it is in short story format means the reader can
complete a story or two in one sitting.
The Best American Catholic
Short Stories
Believed to be the first anthology of its kind,
The Best American Catholic Short Stories features
20 stories from 13 American Catholic authors
over the past 75 years.
Co-editors Patricia Schnapp, RSM, and Dan
McVeigh, (photo right: at their book signing)
both SHU English professors, spent more than
four years assembling the extraordinary
collection that is unique in subject and scope.
Major contributors to the 376-page anthology
published by Sheed and Ward include
Flannery O’Connor, Mary Gordon, Ron Hansen,
T. Coraghessan Boyle and Richard Russo.
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Reflections Summer ’07
Seligmann said SHU colleague Christine Reising,
chair of the Art Department, designed the cover
and the back of the book from family photos.
She also credited SHU Library Director Dr. Robert
Gordon for his help with the textbook questions.
“I think there’s a possibility there of a larger
readership like parish groups and book clubs,”
McVeigh said.
With the most important selection criterion
being literary quality, all the short stories have
a religious dimension of some sort and focus
directly on Catholic spiritual life. The anthology
is evenly divided between political and religious
liberals and conservatives, which reflects the
background of the editors.
“Dan tends to be a conservative Catholic and
I tend to be more liberal,” said Schnapp, a
member of the Sisters of Mercy congregation
who regularly teaches a course on American
Catholic writers at Siena Heights. “I think there’s
a