Flannery O’Connor’s A Prayer Journal: Through the Darkness Toward Redemption

Can Literary Wisdom Counter Despair and Deepen Your Faith?

In this episode of Good Faith Presents: Reading to Make Sense of the World, Curtis Chang and author-professor Jessica Hooten Wilson explore the spiritual insights of Flannery O’Connor’s prayer journal. They examine how O’Connor’s raw honesty, humility, and startling imagery confront the modern obsession with self and offer a radical vision of divine grace. Jessica helps listeners see why O’Connor’s work is more than provocative—it’s prophetic.

Resources or references mentioned in this episode:

• Flannery O’Connor at 100
• Excerpts from Flannery O'Connor's journal (printed in The New Yorker)
• Flannery O’Connor’s A Prayer Journal
• Jessica Hooten wilson’s Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage?: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress
• A Life in Psychiatry and Literature: (an interview with Robert Coles)
• Good Faith episode featuring Amy Low (Facing Cancer with Humor and Hope)
• Good Faith episode featuring Nancy French (Ghosted: an American Story)
• What Is Kafkaesque? - The 'Philosophy' of Franz Kafka (video explainer)

More From Jessica Hooten Wilson:

• Jessica Hooten Wilson's website
• Explore Jessica’s books HERE
• Read articles and Essay by Jessica HERE

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