In the Lit Blitz Hall of Fame, we celebrate authors published in previous Mormon Lit Lab contests by asking their thoughts on Mormon Lit, writing, and life. Check back twice a month for new Hall of Fame interviews.
Previous Lit Blitz pieces by Theric Jepson:
"Joseph and Emma Grow Old Together" (7th Annual Mormon Lit Blitz)
"Angry Sunbeam" (4th Annual Mormon Lit Blitz)
"Maurine Whipple, Age 16, Takes a Train North" (Four Centuries of Mormon Stories)
AN essay by Theric Jepson
Upon receiving notice of my Hall of Fame admission (thanks!), I made a list of everything of mine the Lit Blitz has published or longlisted (a satisfying list) and decided I needed to reread “Angry Sunbeam.”
I think, in a way, I’m a little jealous of “Angry Sunbeam.” Perhaps on behalf of the rest of my oeuvre? Why isn’t everything as beloved as this 284-word paragraph!
So I reread it. And my eyes filled with tears. Just like everybody else’s.
I’m sorry, “Angry Sunbeam.” You are wonderful.
(I know some people think its gauche to like your past work, but come on.)
I went on to reread “Joseph and Emma Grow Old Together” (more red eyes) and “Maurine Whipple, age 16, takes a train north” (red again—now I see what the judges want from me).
I think that latter story may also be my Mormon Lit Blitz mission statement. And not just because I love an experienced writer and a young would-be writer meeting on a train and having their souls intertwine, if only just for a moment.
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James Goldberg, one of the Blitz’s cofounders, wrote an essay which has become core to how I think about a thing like “Mormon literature.” When you create a work of art for your own people, he says, you can focus on details, allusions, that bring readers closer than otherwise, because these are things they already share with your work. “Maurine,” while I hope it would entertain anyone, has added pleasures for Latter-day Saints, for Latter-day Saint readers and writers, for those who’ve read the authors featured, for those who have ever struggled with what it means, as a Latter-day Saint, to find a testimony—to make meaning—to choose the right—to be the right.
It’s hard. But art can share that with us. And the Lit Blitz, for over a decade, has been a place where we share art together. It’s not just the great poems and essays and fictions—it’s the fact that we read them at the same time, and discuss them and celebrate them together.
Plus, the frequent deadlines and friendly terms mean much more art is created than would be otherwise. Which is great for the whole MoLit ecosphere. Four of my five longlisted pieces have been published—or will be by the end of the year (the fifth, let me say, is great, and will find its home eventually): 1, 2, 3.
Speaking as the editor of Irreantum, I welcome the Lit Blitz’s rejects. I also rejoice in its success finding Latter-day Saint writers across the continents. We all want to find and read the work of our brothers and sisters across the globe, but it’s not so easy to just get on a train and bump into, I don’t know, the Nigerian Maurine Whipple. But she’s out there. And the Lit Blitz is a leader at looking globally. They’ll likely find her first.
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In that spirit of sharing, let me encourage you to pick an old favorite from the archives and send it to someone who otherwise will not see it.
Some of my most-shared pieces over the years include Katherine Cowley’s “Paradisiacal Glory” (because stories can help us discover our place in this world we live in), Heather Young’s “Best Wedding Advice Ever” (as stories can expose the artificialities we wrap ourselves in, bringing truth back to the fore), Stephen Carter's "Slippery" (to ensure we stay humble and maybe even afraid), and William Morris’s “Proof That Sister Greeley Is a Witch (Even Though Mormons Don’t Believe in Witches)” (which itself is proof that there are more things yet to be dreamed of in our ongoing Restoration).
Whether you read or write or share, join us. Good things happen when the Mormon Lit Blitz happens.
Thank you, Theric Jepson, for sharing your insights with us for the Lit Blitz Hall of Fame!
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