Gregory Wolfe

YouTube video by Slant Books SLANTCAST Episode #39: What is "Humanism"?

For years you've heard me talk about Erasmus and humanism: FINALLY, a podcast that delves into the meaning of that. On SlantCast I interview leading Erasmus scholar Erika Rummel on what we mean when we say "humanism." youtu.be/lSCU-NXZGoY?...

“I’m struck . . . by the poetic energy he puts into envisioning a God who is absent, hidden, silent.” Read Peggy Rosenthal on Czeslaw Milosz for today's Close Reading. slantbooks.substack.com/p/does-god-e...

"I have just finished reading Howard Schaap’s memoir, Brooding Upon the Waters, and I must say, it has been a long time since I have been so captivated by a book." Read David Schelhaas's review at Reformed Journal: reformedjournal.com/2026/01/28/h...

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Live launch for The Future of Love: "These poems honoring a long marriage are not sentimental or nostalgic, but passionate & wild about the beautiful tensions one finds when facing distance, absence, longing, & the struggle of faith." Register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Once again gathered with my friends in white for a convocation at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley. Awaiting a keynote by the brilliant Russell Hittinger.

Read an Excerpt from James Baldwin Smoking a Cigarette - Slant Books The capstone of a distinguished literary career, James Baldwin Smoking a Cigarette and Other Poems is Baron Wormser’s eleventh book of poetry. It speaks to matters that have haunted and obsessed the a...

"My soul tingles. My gut murmurs.
My past rolls over and starts to dream.
Each stab and fall comes forth.
How can I hold so little that is so much?"

Don't miss this excerpt from Baron Wormser's new volume, now available to read on our website. slantbooks.org/news/read-an...

YouTube video by Slant Books SLANTCAST Episode #38: What Literature Tells Us about the Need for Community

"The idea of community can be so easily romanticized." Listen to Greg Wolfe interview Slant's managing editor, Emily Kwilinski, on her doctoral thesis for the latest episode of SlantCast: "What Literature Tells Us About the Need for Community." youtu.be/jJjDHNA7cb8

"Anne loved to read & write. She was also drawn to the transcendent beauty experienced in nature and in all of life. This attraction seeps into her characters." Read John Tuttle on "Anne Frank and the Religiosity of Fairy Stories" for today's Close Reading. slantbooks.substack.com/p/anne-frank...

We are now in the final days of our Annual Appeal! Please donate to help us reach our $15,000 matching goal for 2026. We are SO CLOSE! Please help: slantbooks.org/donate/

Blue Blue is a way the world is.

"Blue is a color, yes, but it is also just a general truth that hangs over us. It is an adjective that sometimes becomes a noun, just a thing, a blueness that appears and asserts itself in the world." Morgan Meis close reads a color for today's Substack and blog post. slantbooks.substack.com/p/blue

The Feeling in a Face: John Wilson’s “Martin Luther King Jr.” - Slant Books I’ve been making my way through books of photographs on the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. Nearly always, he’s dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and tie. It’s the consistency of this visua...

"His face recedes into the paper, into a separateness that the public King may have experienced even as he fought for integration and union." William E. Cain on a little-known but brilliant portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. Today at Slant's Close Reading blog. slantbooks.org/close-readin...

Excited, too! Such. A. Great. Book. (For teenagers everywhere and the teenager in you.)

Cover reveal! Darren Cools's debut, Light in the Canyon, new from Slant in June 2026. This astonishing debut novel for young adults & readers of all ages—in the spirit of beloved writers like Madeleine L’Engle & Claire Legrand—is by turns chilling, tender, & profound. slantbooks.org/books/light-...

Don't miss Dawn Potter's beautiful tribute in Vox Populi to the late Baron Wormser. James Baldwin Smoking a Cigarette, Wormser's final collection, is available from Slant next week. voxpopulisphere.com/2026/01/04/d...

Now available for pre-order in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats. Publication date: February 17 but it will be for sale at New York Encounter. a.co/d/eYgSgey

TWO WEEKS AWAY: Slant's launch event for the late poet Baron Wormser's final collection, James Baldwin Smoking a Cigarette and Other Poems, will take place on January 13 and feature four renowned guest poets. Register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

YouTube video by Slant Books SLANTCAST Episode #36: "What is Close Reading?"

"The art of close reading reminds us that great literature deepens our respect for mystery & the divided nature of the human heart—& in so doing offers us hope for healing and reconciliation." Don't miss the conversation with Close Reading writers featured today on Substack. youtu.be/CSwB-KwS4JM?...

Don’t forget to make your tax-deductible donation to Slant before December 31! The generosity of our donors makes all our work possible. slantbooks.org/donate/

Setting Out Into the Dark with God Hans Urs von Balthasar on Christmas.

Every Christmas season I post the wonderful Christmas meditation by the great theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/int...

More kudos for Child of These Tears! Molly McNett's novel on the New Statesman's Books of the Year 2025 list! www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

We ask for financial support only 2 months a year. Doing something the right way rather than the easy way always comes at a cost. If you agree, please read our annual appeal letter and donate to Support Slant's mission. slantbooks.org/donate/

Don't miss Howard Schaap's conversation with radio station KWIT-KOJI: Siouxland Public Media on his new release from Slant, Brooding Upon the Waters! www.kwit.org/spm-podcasts...

"If we passed over an element of the plot or neglected a significant piece of dialogue, Brother Rudolph would chastise us. And if we seemed zoned out to him, our minds wandering, he’d give us a cuff to the head." Wm Cain on a memory of Close Reading from 1969. slantbooks.substack.com/p/close-read...

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! This tribute to the late Baron Wormser -- featuring four great poets -- is going to be a real treat. His words live on. Registration link: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

From the New Statesman's Books of the Year 2025, Rowan Williams on Molly McNett's "Child of These Tears."

Books Make Something Happen: The 2025 Slant Books Annual Appeal - Slant Books W.H. Auden’s phrase, “poetry makes nothing happen,” has been misinterpreted: instead of saying that literature is ineffectual, Auden was simply resisting the idea that literature should be reduced to ...

"The most transformative books are the product of an individual writer’s imagination; great books reflect what the philosophers called haeccitas—'thisness'—something no large language model or AI slop will ever possess." Read Slant's Annual Appeal and support our work! slantbooks.org/close-readin...

Terrible photo, i know, but that's a breaching humpback whale. I wondered why the ferry slowed down....

Definitive proof that some people -- at least occasionally -- laugh WITH me rather than, you know, the alternative....

I called her my fairy godmother. She helped me get started as a publisher and an editor. RIP, dearest Luci Shaw, & sincere condolences to John Hoyte and the whole family. Memory eternal!

Congratulations, Howard Schaap, on publication day of your debut memoir, Brooding Upon the Waters. You can still register for tonight's live book launch: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...