Interview with Orson Scott Card on Writing-World.com
An article from 2000–quite good!
On Religion in SF and Fantasy:
An Interview with Orson Scott Card
by Moira Allen
In your view, how well (or poorly) is religion portrayed in current fantasy and science fiction?
There is little difference on this point between speculative fiction and literary fiction — or any other genre except that of religious fiction itself.
In our culture, intellectuals have become so uniformly a-religious or anti-religious that our fiction, with few exceptions, depicts religious people in only two ways: the followers are ignorant and stupid and easily fooled, and the leaders are exploitative and cynical, manipulating others’ faith for their private benefit.
I know some people who fit those descriptions. But they are in a tiny minority. Most religious people I know are smart, well-educated, independent-minded, stubborn, honest, and generous — at least as much so as the average intellectual, and usually more.
The hostility toward religion among American intellectuals arises, I think, from a clear awareness that it was against a publicly religious culture that their own culture rebelled. Now that rebellion is completely successful in terms of capturing control of all the public instruments of transmission of culture — the universities, the media, and the literature and art — but it has become such a shibboleth of intellectual life to snipe at religion that, like the aging “revolutionaries” of the old Soviet Union, they mindlessly continue to “rebel” in order to defend their tight grip on the establishment. Indeed, those intellectuals are the establishment. And what was once a daring and rebellious stance is now just another example of lockstep conformists mindlessly echoing ideas that they haven’t examined.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Clare,
A few things. First, great post on Orson Scott Card. As a Catholic writer (www.andrew-mcnabb.com) I have encountered the prejudices inherent in the mainstream publishing establishment.
I see that you are a book-reviewer. My short story collection, The Body of This (Warren Machine), will be out in the Spring. Joseph Pearce and Bret Lott have written nice blurbs for the cover, and it is going to reviewed widely. Let me know if you would like a review copy, and what publications you might have an “in” with.
Secondly, based on my experiences, I have decided to start a small Catholic publish house, Leoness Books. I am sending the press release below, intended for Writers and Readers of Catholic Literary Fiction and Non-Fiction, to a cross-section of Blogs listed on St. Blog’s Parish. Please consider posting it on your website.
There is a dearth of publishing opportunities for writers of what I would call “Catholic Literary Writing.” I have been told by prominent agents, who have approached me after seeing my work in secular journals—and who, after seeing my full body of work, say, “Your writing is too Christian for the Trade (Big) publishers and too Catholic for the CBA (Christian Book Association—Evangelical.) As for the Catholic publishing establishment, they are more interested in theology and apologetics than in fiction and narrative non-fiction, and are often constrained by religious order affiliation.
[To Be Posted]
Leoness Book Press Release
Attention Writers & Readers!
Leoness Books is a newly formed small press specializing in Literary Catholic Writing. Leoness has been created due to the dearth of publishing opportunities for Catholic writers whose work can be described as “Literary, yet artfully overt.” Leoness is seeking book-length fiction (both novels and story collections) and narrative non-fiction submissions for their Leoness Book Award, and short stories for their Best Catholic Short Stories, 2010 edition.
Leoness Books is also seeking dedicated readers who are tired of the syrupy genre fiction that Christian publishers attempt to pass off as “real life,” who are put off by the poorly written Apocalyptic novels that misrepresent Bible teaching, and disheartened by the plethora of literary options for nearly every subset of humanity, except for devout Catholics seeking quality literature inspired by faith. There are several ways to become involved and ensure Leoness Books’ success. Please visit http://www.LeonessBooks.com for more information.
Sincerely,
Andrew McNabb
P.S. I know quite well how to pronounce Siobhan. A story of mine, Siobhan of Dublin was published a few years ago in New Delta Review. I can e-mail the story to you if you’d like.