Phil Klay, Kirstin Valdez Quade, and the State of Contemporary Catholic Literature

The epilogue focuses on the work of Phil Klay and Kirstin Valdez Quade, two representatives of a younger generation of Catholic writers that is continuing to develop and expand the dimensions of Catholic literature. In Klay’s fiction, violence is tied directly to the experiences of war and its aftermath. This section of the chapter focuses primarily on “Prayers in the Furnace,” which is about how individuals respond to violence, both that they themselves have perpetuated and that they have experienced. Quade’s fiction connects pervasive violence to systemic breakdowns in the social fabric, but also to the experience of faith itself, and she explores whether moments of violence really lead to insight and grace. We see this through close readings of her story “Christina the Astonishing (1150–1224),” the short story “The Five Wounds,” and the novel of the same name. Both Klay and Quade explore the nature of suffering and use their work to provoke their readers into a reflection on what it takes to actually change.