A mix for your late summer
William Morris on the MIX issue of Irreantum, the eternal rediscovery of the idea of Mormon literature, eternal truth and recontextualizing, and more.
Hello.
Today I have grab bag of Mormon culture-related stuff for you. No updates on any of my Mormon lit efforts other than to say that I've had two rejections and three acceptances this year of work I've submitted and probably won't be submitting anything else for at least another six months. After a productive spring, I hit a lull this summer (on the Mormon culture front; other projects proceed apace). I'm hoping, however, to finish the first draft of one more Mormon lit-related project this year. Just need to figure out which one.
The M I X issue of Irreantum
Theric Jepson published a new issue of Irreantum earlier this month. It's not a themed issue, which is why it's (appropriately) titled "M I X," but it's also heavy on poetry, and, overall, the works included add up to a bittersweet, somewhat consoling, portrait of LDS life. My favorite piece from the issue is the first one: "Early Morning Art" by Mark D. Bennion. I like the more abstract turn of phrases in the first stanza and the last, even though I'm by no means an early riser.
Here we go again
Every so often, someone re-discovers the idea of Mormon literature. Caleb Griffin recently did so in a post for the AML blog. It even starts with a reference to Chaim Potok (and this is where I say again: Potok probably isn't the reference you think he is, especially not if you're looking to show a model that would work for the Mormon audience; my understanding is that many Jewish folks both more and less orthodox than him, don't feel his work to be the profound mixing of art and faith that us gentiles do) and goes on to blame the prudish Mormon audience. James Goldberg provided the necessary push back in the first comment (and very kindly mentions my work [among many others]. Kent Larsen provided a necessary push back against James's push back. It's all what it should be (and has been), and so I didn't wade in to the conversation.
Here's what I'd say: the very fact that Caleb was able to write what he did here in 2026 is both a failure of Mormon culture and a failure of broader American culture. The most urgent question right now is: what should anyone who cares about Mormon art or about the LDS people or about U.S. culture do right now given those two, and many other, cultural failures?
I don't know. I feel like I've said most of what I've needed to say. It's all there in the stories in my two collections plus anything that's been published since then (not to mention the AMV blog and the editions of this newsletter). This is not to foreclose anyone else taking a crack at it. Not at all. Give me more Mormon art. Nor is it to say that I'm done, especially given that I, likely, have two works coming out next year that will say more.
It's more that I've become less interested in Mormon art as a category and more interested in specific works or ideas about it. I'm interested in the particular. Which may seem like a narrowing, but, I suspect, is actually the meat of it. Depth changes your understanding of the width.
On eternal truths and recontextualizing
I spoke in my ward's sacrament meeting earlier this summer. I won't bore you with the entire talk. I don't think it's one of the best ones I've given.
But I did like this part, which riffs on the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13:
While parables are simple and are a helpful way for us to think about specific Gospel concepts, they don't each individually contain everything of the Gospel and our experiences of life. I'm pretty sure Christ didn't mean them to. It's why we have a lot of them. And why we have other teachings. And why we have prophets today to speak to us. And why we're supposed to study and pray and seek revelation in and for our daily lives.
Because the truth is that I'd bet all of us have parts of the gospel and parts of our lives where we let seeds fall by the way side. And parts of us that are stony ground. And where thorns are growing up. And also where the soil is rich and deep and good things are able to flourish.
Moreover, which parts of the gospel and parts of our lives are which type ground can change over time based on which voices we listen to or which vices we indulge in or which aspects of discipleship we neglect or pay attention to.
Yes, the Gospel truths are simple, but we need to learn and re-learn what they mean and how we apply them as we change and the people around us change and the various cultures that make up this world change. That's the whole point of the scriptures: yes, eternal truths, but always rooted in a specific personal and societal context.
On signs
If you were to analyze my fiction, you'd find that I borrow a lot of phrases, imagery, cadences, and discursive modes from the Doctrine & Covenants. I love its' hopeful apocalypticism, and also how well it prepares us, or should have prepared us, for our current information environment.
For example, D&C 63:7: "And he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation."
Culture is an assemblage of signs. So is politics. So are conspiracy theories, self-help models, and all manner of ideologies.
Very often, they don't work towards salvation. Not even towards some sort salvation in this life let alone in the life to come.
The scriptures agree that language as we currently have it is weak. Prone to misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Often used for cynical purposes.
But language is also what we have. And, especially in our day and age, we have an abundance of it.
The world is flooded with signs.
If you seek them, you'll find them.
Anything you want to believe, you can find evidence for and a community who share that belief. The algorithms are a perfect, self-reinforcing mechanism to justify to yourself whatever rabbit hole you go down. And no one is immune: you never know which mire is going to be the wallow that's perfect for you.
The beautiful thing, though, and this is something that the D&C teaches, is that there are processes that help us sift the gems out of the mud. There are ongoing, productive conversations happening all around us. Not perfect, pure ones—purity outside of individual observance, is a weapon used by the cynical, who are seeking for power. So not pure conversations: messy ones, human ones. But productive ones.
And, in my opinion, those conversations can best be found in art, science, and scripture.
How much time are you spending look for and participating in the good conversations?
How much time are you spending seeking signs?
Yeah.
I need to be better at this too.
I apologize that this is such a random, preachy issue. Back to something more focused when I see you next at the end of October.
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