The Conference on Christianity & Literature

Journal Editorial Policies

All essays submitted for publication should conform to the MLA Style Manual, 6th ed. (New York: Modern Language Association, 2003). Articles of fewer than 4,000 or more than 9,000 words in text, approximately 16-36 double-spaced pages, are not ordinarily considered. Submissions should comply with accepted guidelines for nonsexist usage in language.

All essay submissions should be made in duplicate, with authorship identified on a separate cover sheet. In order for a manuscript to be returned, a submission must be accompanied by an SASE with sufficient return postage.

Manuscripts should be directed to:
Paul J. Contino and Maire Mullins, co-editors
Christianity and Literature
Pepperdine University, Humanities Division
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263-7232

Poetry submissions should be addressed to Julia S. Kasdorf, Pennsylvania State University, English Dept., 114 Burrows Bldg., University Park, PA 16802.  Because of the volume of poetry received, submissions will not be acknowledged or returned unless they are accompanied by an SASE with sufficient return postage.

We look for poems that are clear and surprising. They should have a compelling sense of voice, formal sophistication (though not necessarily rhyme and meter), and the ability to reveal the spiritual through concrete images.

One poem from the most recent journal issue will be featured on this site. For examples of  poetry published in the journal and featured on this site, see  recent poetry.

  

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Questions to Tammy Ditmore (tammy.ditmore@pepperdine.edu)

 

In the Latest Issue of Christianity & Literature:


My Fellow Creatures
Do a Better Job
Than I

Mary Kennan Herbert

Everything shuts down
in the hummingbird
when it must endure
extreme cold in
paradise, where there
is always a price
to pay.

To survive the icy
nights it shuts down
everything but brain,
heart, and liver, yields
itself to the cold,
and keeps a nugget

of life safe until dawn,
when all systems
are go. I'm not
that good
in the scheme of
things. My ticker
insists on keeping
the pace,

and extremities keep 
on pulsing,
everybody wants
to get into the act.
Hands and feet
could freeze because
of poor decisions
at command

central. The wolf licks
its chops, thinking
of a warm,
gutsy dinner.
Lucky hummingbird.
Tiny perfect jewel,
who can fail to be
impressed

with your efficiency,
your aesthetic
lessons for us,
your captured
sunlight, your mission
to deliver nectar
like a bee,
pleasing the Deity.

Wolf, you can quickly
take me now,
an old body
from the freezer.
Little things,
however, may
escape your notice.
Small, warm,
dazzling.

Winter 2009