Welcome to Depth Perception

An introduction.

New Substack: who’s this?

This newsletter is managed by Katy Carl, editor in chief of Dappled Things magazine, a literary quarterly of ideas, art, & Catholic faith, and written mostly by same, with (let’s hope) guest authors from time to time. I’m the author of two books of contemplative realist fiction, As Earth Without Water, a novel (Wiseblood, 2021) and Fragile Objects, short stories (Wiseblood, 2023, forthcoming). I am pursuing my MFA in fiction through the University of St. Thomas in Houston, and the Collegium Institute at Penn, whose Ars Vivendi Initiative includes Dappled Things under its umbrella, has been kind enough to make me a senior affiliate fellow of their Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society.

Why a Substack, why now?

Rather than the usual, chatty blog-or-newsletter fare, I want to use this form intentionally to build a series of essays: mainly on the emerging concept of contemplative realism, but occasionally on related topics. Contemplative realism arises from a theological-aesthetic manifesto by Dr. Joshua Hren, who teaches fiction at UST and edits/publishes books at Wiseblood. Rather than a pure explication of the ideas in that volume (though I hope we will manage that too), these essays will necessarily reflect my own or my guests’ take(s), and not necessarily some authoritative, definitive version of contemplative realism. Salt accordingly.

How can I support contemplative realist writers?

Why, thank you. Your attention is gift enough. Read, think, and share your thoughts. For those who would find it no hardship, and if we really begin to take off, I might introduce a paid option or tip jar later. But initially, while I figure out the form, this will be a donation-pitch-free publication, and even later it will remain free to read.