New Writing Program Connects Prose to the Ethical Life

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Dear
John,
For some years, we have wanted to develop a seminar workshop on the connections between good writing, clear thinking, and the moral imagination. This past summer the time was finally right and we welcomed a dozen students and young professionals to Mecosta for just such a gathering.

The Kirk Center’s new “Writing and the Moral Imagination” program brings together two themes central to the life and work of Russell Kirk: character and composition. Participants deepened their acquaintance with the chief habits of moral excellence, both the cardinal virtues and the theological virtues, and explored these virtues in direct relation to American education and effective, ethical prose. Over the course of four days in July, they focused not only on concepts but also on practical cases—both in their own writing and in the lives of influential leaders who have enacted key virtues in their careers.

Sessions were led by Dr. David Hein ([link removed]) , Distinguished Teaching Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center and Senior Fellow at the George C. Marshall Foundation, beginning with a discussion based on readings from The Virtues: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press) and moving to illustrations from the lives of exemplars.

Dr. Hein drew upon a lifetime of classroom teaching and writing to create a seminar that was unique in content and in the opportunity for feedback on writing assignments.

He very kindly set aside time to meet individually with participants to mentor them on their writing projects. Each day included writing workshops and oral presentations, which participants found especially helpful.

James Person, author of a biography of Russell Kirk and a longtime editor, gave a keynote presentation defining and expanding on the concept of the Moral Imagination.

The Kirk Center’s inaugural conference and workshop on “Writing and the Moral Imagination” turned out to be a beneficial experience for the participants. One young professional working in Washington, DC, told me he had been stuck in a rut writing for other people and lost the drive to do so for himself. This seminar gave him the opportunity to rekindle his desire to write for himself and the public and he was excited to get back home and begin doing so. I especially appreciated that feedback. Others noted,
* “It was formative intellectually and spiritually and exceeded all expectations.”
* “Writing with a deadline and presentation in mind, in company with great peers and in such an excellent setting, was a truly special element of the seminar.”
* “The seminar was collaborative and intellectually challenging. It provided a good chance to get some immediate feedback, which is rare for a writer.”
* “David Hein’s willingness to meet with and mentor us one-on-one was really helpful.”
* “I loved my experience here—thank you so much for starting this program.”

If you would like to help us offer more conservative programs to imaginatively redeem the culture and educate the current generation in the best of American conservative thought and practice, please consider supporting the Kirk Center here ([link removed]) .

In keeping with the subject of imaginative writing, we turn to Russell Kirk’s novel, Old House of Fear, an adventure mystery set in Scotland during the Cold War. Kirk was an award-winning fiction writer and this novel—called “thrillingly executed” by the New York Times back in the day—outsold all his other books. In some quarters, Dr. Kirk is known as much or more for his gothic fiction than for his Burkean conservatism. Young people today are drawn to this dimension of Kirk’s mind more than ever before.

On October 25, University Bookman editor Luke Sheahan will discuss Kirk’s fiction with James Panero, executive editor of the New Criterion, and Hollywood screenwriter Adam Simon on the next “Book Gallery” webinar.

You are invited to join them on Wednesday, October 25, at 7 p.m., for an enjoyable book-club style conversation by registering here ([link removed]) .

Participants are encouraged to read the newest edition of The Old House of Fear, beautifully produced from Criterion Books ([link removed]) with a new introduction by James Panero. As Panero notes, “The writing quality and studied interest of [Kirk’s] ghostly fiction were not ancillary to his conservative mind but central to his Gothic sensibility, which identified conservatism in the revenant spirits of America’s literary and cultural traditions.”

I hope you enjoy this fictional foray during Russell Kirk’s October birthday month (dubbed “Kirktober” by some of his former literary assistants!).

In case you missed it, the Kirk Center hosted Harvard University’s John Adams Society ([link removed]) for an intellectual retreat in August. You can read about it on our website’s re-designed Highlights page ([link removed]) , which now provides the option of sharing articles individually.

In closing, let me pass along a quotation from The Conservative Mind that continues to ring true 70 years after its publication in 1953: “In essence, the body of belief we call ‘conservatism’ is an affirmation of normality in the concerns of society.”

Best Regards,
Jeffrey O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director & CEO


P.S. If you don’t currently receive the Kirk Center’s complimentary print newsletter, Permanent Things ([link removed]) , please sign up today ([link removed]) .

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