Joshua Hren

Joshua Hren is the founder and publisher of Wiseblood Books, author of "How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic," and cofounder of a new MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas that focuses on the Catholic imagination. He has presented at the de Nicola Center's Fall Conference.

• How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic — How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic is a sweeping survey of some of the finest literary works ever written by our fallen and yet redeemed race. Joshua Hren takes readers on a tour that spans centuries and explores our broken path to salvation, passing through stories known to many but perhaps understood by few, and others that merit a broader readership.
• In the Wine Press: Short Stories — The thirteen stories in this collection track strained lives, characters compressed by the crises of our times, from clerical misdeeds to school shootings. Among them: a father and son comet-watching from a porch they built together confront a constellation of familial abuse; a parish priest grooms a fatherless boy; a politico conquers through think tank schemes until he is defeated by his parents’ death; a spokesman for a major bank insists that a young intern died of natural causes; and a bishop’s secretary discovers a deeper obedience when asked to destroy parish records. Never settling for easy exits, these intense fictions portray a world distrustful of its former guides but populated still by souls searching and finding.
• Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing — The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at the University of St. Thomas offers an advanced apprenticeship in poetry and fiction, taught by a host of distinguished writers and scholars. The MFA in Creative Writing integrates intense and invigorating workshops in writing with a series of comprehensive seminars in the Catholic literary and intellectual tradition. Courses are online and flexible (with an optional residency), and tailored to the needs of students and their writings.
• Theme Song: "I Dunno" by Grapes — I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque