The Merton Annual The ITMS and the Thomas Merton Center support publication of The Merton Annual: Studies in Culture, Spirituality and Social Concerns. The Merton Annual is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles about Thomas Merton and about related matters of major concern to his life and work. Its purpose is to enhance Merton’s reputation as a writer and monk, to continue to develop his message for our times, and to provide a regular outlet for substantial Merton-related scholarship. The Merton Annual includes as regular features reviews, review-essays, a bibliographic survey, interviews, and first appearances of unpublished, or obscurely published, Merton materials, photographs and art. Essays about related literary and spiritual matters will also be considered. Manuscripts and books for review may be sent to either of the editors.   ITMS members can purchase The Merton Annual at a special rate. Copies can also be ordered from the Thomas Merton Center - order The Merton Annual, volume 38. (To be published March 15, 2026)   Volumes 18 - 38 may also be ordered from the Merton Center - contact [email protected] for further information or go to: https://merton.org/ITMS/Annual/annualavailable.aspx.   Volume 38 of The Merton Annual will be available in March 2026 and Volume 39 is due for publication in Spring 2027. The Merton Annual is available to ITMS members as part of an enhanced membership package. Further details of this are available at the ITMS Membership web page.

Volume 38 - Table of Contents

• Golemboski, David. "Introduction: No Unsacred Places." 5-9.

• Merton, Thomas. "The Council and Monasticism" edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O'Connell. 10-31.

• Merton, Thomas. "Thoughts on the Thoughts: Monastic Conferences on the Passions, Spiritual Combat and Patristic Anthropology" transcribed and edited with an introduction by David M. Odorisio. 32-71.

• O'Connell, Patrick F. "Schema XIII: Reopening the 'Open Letter'." 72-100.

• Ashley, J. Matthews. "Thomas Merton, David Tracy and the Uncanny: Signs . . . Still . . . of the Times." 101-121.

• Prinz, Julia D. E. and Kevin F. Burke. "Facing the Landscape of Cries: An Aesthetics of Resistance." 122-143.

• Horan, Daniel P. "Seeing the World Anew: Thomas Merton, Contemplation and the Spirituality of Place." 144-157.

• Vander Leek, Ethan. "The Sacred City of the World: Merton on Interiority and Place." 158-180.

• London, Daniel DeForest. "Rewilding Prayer: The Theodical Spirituality of Thomas Merton." 181-199.

• Zorrilla, María Guadalupe. "Water, Wood and Wonder: Contemplative Thought in Thomas Merton and Sergio Bongiovanni." 200-213.

• Oyer, Gordon. "Relating to Place as Property with Merton as Guide." 214-234.

• Murphy, Ed, Jung Eun Sophia Park and Megan McDonald Way. "Merton’s Last Talk and the New Monasticism as Calligraphy in the Twenty-First-Century World." 235-256.

• McNary-Zak, Bernadette. "An Invitation to Life: A Bibliographic Review of 2024." 257-265.

• Dart, Ron. Rev. of Thomas Merton in California: The Redwoods Conferences and Letters [Full Text] by Thomas Merton, edited by David M. Odorisio. 266-268.

• Mark C. Meade. Rev. of Diálogos, Puentes, Encuentros: La Vigencia de Thomas Merton [Full Text] edited by Marcela Raggio. 268-272.

• McGregor, Michael N. Rev. of A Matter of the Heart: A Monk’s Journal, 1970-2022 [Full Text] by Paul Quenon. 272-274.

• Dunn, George A. and Xu Xiaoyan. Rev. of The Scholar-Gipsy: Thrownness, Memoricide & The Great Tradition: Liber Amicorum for Ron S. Dart [Full Text] edited by Matthew Steem and Wayne Northey. 274-277.

• Kehoe, George C. Rev. of Queering Contemplation: Finding Queerness in the Roots and Future of Contemplative Spirituality [Full Text] by Cassidy Hall. 277-283.

• Robinson, James F. Rev. of Green Saints for a Green Generation [Full Text] edited by Libby Osgood, CND. 283-285.

• Dekar, Paul. Rev. of Fear and Faith: Hope and Wholeness in a Fractured World [Full Text] by Daniel P. Horan. 285-287.

• Kerr, Aaron K. Rev. of Dwelling in the Wilderness: Modern Monks in the American West [Full Text] by Jason M. Brown. 287-290.

Submissions:

The Merton Annual publishes articles about Thomas Merton and about related matters of major concern to his life and work. Its purpose is to enhance Merton's reputation as a writer and monk, to continue to develop his message for our times, and to provide a regular outlet for substantial Merton-related scholarship. The Merton Annual includes as regular features reviews, review-essays, a bibliographic survey, interviews, and first appearances of unpublished, or obscurely published Merton materials, photographs, and art. Essays about related literary and spiritual matters will also be considered.

Guidelines for Submissions