Holy the Words: The Craft of Spiritual Writing

Edited by Patrice Gopo and Ellie Roscher, this rich, generous anthology gathers voices shaped by the Collegeville Institute, a community known for its Benedictine hospitality and deep commitment to spiritual formation through writing.

These essays explore spiritual writing not as a formula or genre, but as a lived practice that welcomes mystery, doubt, grief, justice-seeking, embodiment, and joy. Contributors--including Sophfronia Scott, Kao Kalia Yang, Krista Tippett, Patrick B. Reyes, Kathleen Norris, Chanequa Walker-Barnes, and many others--reflect on writing as prayer, protest, healing, listening, and vocation. Topics range from interviewing as a spiritual discipline and writing from the body, to healing from spiritual trauma, reclaiming marginalized voices, navigating rejection, revision, research, and even marketing as spiritual practice.

Holy the Words embodies the journey of the spiritual writer, inviting readers to wander, linger, and listen for what speaks to them now. Each essay includes practical prompts and exercises, making this both a book to read and a book to write alongside.

Rooted in compassion, justice, and creative courage, Holy the Words reminds you that you are not alone in your desire to write toward meaning. Here, words become a form of attention, a practice of hospitality, and a faithful response to the world as it is--and as it might yet be.