Wood’s earlier novels contain explicit social critiques, but ‘Stone Yard Devotional’ does its intellectual heavy lifting at an arm’s-length distance. “I wanted to write a book that doesn’t teach or explain or condescend,” she told America in an interview over Zoom in February.
Arts & Culture
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Catherine Mowry LaCugna’s feminist theology of the Trinity inspired a generation
Catherine Mowry LaCugna, who died in 1997 at only 44 years of age, brought new life to Trinitarian theology and inspired a generation of scholars.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
‘Say Nothing’ breaks the I.R.A.’s code of silence
The series succeeds in the same way Patrick Radden Keefe’s book did: It makes you love these people.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Movie Club
Start your Lenten journey with ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’
In Llewyn I see a reflection of the human soul: restless, fumbling towards eternal but frequently getting sidetracked.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Saints, souls and spirituality: Remembering theologian Larry Cunningham
Lawrence “Larry” Cunningham, a longtime professor of theology at Notre Dame University and a well-known writer on spirituality, sainthood and more, died on Feb. 20, 2025.
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
A Black Captain America is an exciting concept. But ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is aggressively mediocre.
The latest installment in the “Captain America” franchise feels thematically confused and clumsy in its execution.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
William Stringfellow: The modern prophet who helped hide Daniel Berrigan from the FBI
Throughout his life, William Stringfellow was the modern incarnation of an Old Testament prophet, calling out lies and hypocrisy and demanding fidelity to the commandments of God.
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
The rise and fall of Catholic wins at the Oscars
The stories about Catholics that Hollywood tells—and awards—has as much to do with what is happening with the church off-screen as what is shown on-screen.
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
Oscar-nominated ‘Sugarcane’ finds beauty after the terror of Canada’s residential school abuses
“Sugarcane” is, surprisingly, a story of healing, although the healing does not come from the church or its ministers.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Al Smith and the first Catholic run at the White House
A century ago, Al Smith was a force in American politics—and the first Catholic to mount a major run at the White House. And if he is to be believed, he didn’t know what an encyclical was.