April 22, 2009- Flannery O'Connor, one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century, was remembered this week in Rome.


In a three day international conference at the University of the Holy Cross, scholars from all over the world gathered to analyze and listen to O’Connor’s work in the context of art and faith.

Professor John Wauck
University of the Holy Cross (Rome)
“Flannery O’Connor’s fiction offers an example of what Catholic art can achieve when it’s fully informed by a sophisticated theological understanding, a rigorous philosophical background, and also the kind of dedication to craft, to the artistry of writing that she combined.

John Wauck is a professor of literature and the communication of the faith at the University of the Holy Cross. He says the conference was organized in large part to introduce Flannery O’Connor to an international audience.

Professor John Wauck
University of the Holy Cross (Rome)
“She’s very well known in the United States but she’s not that well known outside. And it requires a certain amount of preparation for a non-American to understand Flannery O’Connor. So that’s a large part of what this conference is about.”

Louise Florencourt is Flannery O’Connor’s cousin. She says the influence of O’Connor’s Catholic faith was always present in her work. 

Louise Florencourt
Flannery O’Connor’s cousin
“Her message is a Catholic message. But she writes in a secular context. She lived in a secular world.”

Flannery O’Connor was a devout Catholic living in the conservative protestant South of the United States. She died in 1964 after battling lupus for over ten years. However, her legacy continues to be admired and analyzed the world over.

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