PhD in English. Coming in 2028: My Year of War and Peace. Columnist @RNS. Contributing Writer @TheDispatch. The Priory https://xitter.cf/t.co/cbaTNohjRS
Joined January 2010
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Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
KEY RACE ALERT: Tom Loftis projected to win reelection as mayor of Widow’s Bay
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Some higher-ed good news: Clemson is launching a new department based on the Great Books, with up to 120 scholarships a year and a Socratic tutor for each student. C. Bradley Thompson reports on The Lyceum—and on profs putting teaching first again: city-journal.org/article/cle…
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
The weirdest part of those AI scam emails to authors is the premise. You don't need an author's permission (or money, obviously) to feature his book in your book club or reading group or whatever. He doesn't even need to know you're doing it. Just go ahead and do it.
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
I've often wondered why some pastors are so determined to extend grace to child sex offenders — especially when it puts children in their congregation at risk. In the case of South Carolina minister Tracy Black, one possible answer is becoming clearer.
Black defended his decision to allow a registered sex offender to attend outdoor church services and dismissed concerns about child safety. Now Black is facing charges for alleged child sex abuse and possession of child sex abuse material.
Could it be his empathy for child sex abusers was actually empathy for himself?
roysreport.com/south-carolin…
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Dear Ms. Oates:
As someone who admires both your writing, and Flannery O'Connor's, a great deal, I thought I might respond to your recent comments about Flannery O'Connor and her Catholic faith.
As I see it, Flannery was definitely a foe of hypocrisy. (Her great and trenchant story "Revelation," in which the self-satisfied Mrs. Turpin is shown in a vision how those she considers "beneath her" are entering heaven ahead of her, is a case in point.) Flannery's frequent critiques of religion are not so much a critique of faith (she herself enjoyed a very strong faith, as you can see in her recently published collection, "A Prayer Journal") but a critique of falsely religious people. Hypocrites, to use Jesus's own language.
Flannery was herself was very pious (in her own way of course) and tried to paint her fictional characters in what you might call a loud way, in order to make them stand out. "To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost-blind you draw large and startling figures," she wrote. This, again, is not the result of her lack of faith (or her desire to make fun of faith) but her desire, as I see it, to have people understand true faith.
As for the Eucharist, her oft-quoted line came in response to a comment from Mary McCarthy at a dinner party of literary types. (Flannery was brought by Robert Lowell and his wife.) At one point, McCarthy, who considered herself a lapsed Catholic, opined that the Eucharist was a symbol ("and a pretty good one at that"). Flannery responded, "Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it."
In other words, for Flannery, the Eucharist is much more than a symbol and a person wouldn't give their life or stake their faith on "just" a symbol. (Symbols are important of course, but the reality they point to is even more important.) Flannery believed in what we Catholics call the "Real Presence," where Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. So, "to hell with" anything that lessened the truth of that.
In any event, I hope this clarifies things a bit.
Thanks for all the wonderful work of yours that I've so enjoyed over the years.
Peace,
Fr. James Martin, SJ
actually I've begun to wonder whether Flannery O'Connor believed the pious utterances she'd made in interviews & essays, that identify her as a "good Catholic."
I am no expert in her work--though I am sure that I've read all of her fiction-- but in stories as savagely corrosive & brilliantly hilarious as "A Late Encounter with the Enemy" it is piety & old-timey southern hypocrisy that are the objects of her satire. truly wondering whether, like some other writers, O'Connor did not reveal her deeper, more idiosyncratic self in her best fiction & not in more public performances.
"trust the tale, not the teller; the teller is a liar"--D. H. Lawrence
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Patrick Stewart in lockdown reading my favorite sonnet, Sonnet 73, “That Time of Year Thou May’st in Me Behold.” RIP.
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Sure, some links!
Here’s @KSPrior for some Aristotelian Austen:
thedispatch.com/newsletter/d…
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Honored by these kind words from @KSPrior regarding The Crystal Hand, which will publish in December from the wonderful @WisebloodBooks.
Today's a great day to order a copy or two in time for holiday gifts!
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
#ToxicEmpathyn= only caring about matters that directly affect you or the “friends” that hate the same people you do.
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Pete Hegseth wanted General Dwight Eisenhower’s globe for his office.
Historians needed to be called in to carefully move the historic globe into his office.
But he didn’t want to wait.
So he and his staff picked up the globe.
And dropped it.
It broke.
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Christianity Today has seen about half its staff quit or laid off in the last 14 mos. Former employees told me that new business leaders have intervened in editorial decisions & are effectively abandoning the outlet's commitment to independent journalism. nytimes.com/2026/10/21/us/ch…
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
“Be not afraid” as a command instead of an assurance or consolation is hilarious. Love evangelical influencers they’re so silly
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Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church by @michaeljkruger
hardcover: $14.08
'Spiritual abuse is one of the greatest stains on the bride of Christ today. Too few with pulpits and platforms are willing to recognize the basic truths that Michael Kruger addresses clearly, convincingly, and biblically. I thought Bully Pulpit would be a book every pastor and Christian leader ought to read. But I changed my mind: every Christian from pulpit to pew needs to read this wise and timely work--for the sake of the church and her people.'
-- @KSPrior, research professor of English and Christianity & Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of On Reading Well
'The apostle Paul tells us the overseer of God's people is not to be a bully, but gentle (1 Tim. 3:3, CSB), and yet we too often overlook significant character issues or actions that should be disqualifying for ministry because of how God seems to be using an individual or growing a church. Bully Pulpit provides wise and measured reflections on the reality of shepherds who reject Christ's vision of leadership and leave spiritual destruction in the wake of their sin. I hope this important book prompts serious discussion among God's people.'
-- @TrevinWax, vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and visiting professor at Cedarville University, author of The Thrill of Orthodoxy
purchase link: amazon.com/Bully-Pulpit-Conf…
@Zondervan
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Thank you, @KSPrior, for the opportunity to write about *the* English biography!
“As he builds his portrait of Johnson, Boswell brings the past before us with a vividness that sometimes makes the breath catch in our throats.”
Honored to have biographer @LucySRAusten writing on James Boswell writing on Samuel Johnson at The Priory:
karenswallowprior.substack.c…
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
Another interesting night of people watching outside the last Anti-Christ lecture by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, including some of the biggest names from Tennessee's world of Christian nationalism. 1/2
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell, Esquire. Printed by T. Cadell & W. Davies. Antiquarian, 1807, 5th Edition, 4-vol. leather-bound set. Beautiful!
It’s not every day one gets to handle, read, & enjoy 217 year-old books, but today was that day for Francis & me! 📚
Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) retweeted
I’m so legitimately fascinated by this thread.
We pay a steep price to live in a shameless society, and I really think we gotta bring shame back.
