Manuscripts and other papers by Thomas Merton appraised at a value of nearly one million dollars have recently been donated to the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY by Merton?s longtime editor Robert Giroux.    The gift is the largest single addition to the archives at the Center, the major repository for Merton?s papers, since the core of the collection was received from Merton himself and from the Abbey of Gethsemani in the years leading up to and shortly after Merton?s death in 1968.  It follows a previous donation of materials by Mr. Giroux in 2001 valued at more than $200,000, which at the time he believed included all the Merton-related documents in his possession.

     The more than 3000 pages of newly discovered documents include drafts or proofs of five books: The Waters of Siloe, The Sign of Jonas, Thoughts in Solitude, Disputed Questions, and The Ascent to Truth, of which four heavily edited versions were found.  Among the other materials are a draft of Merton?s never-published book ?Art and Worship,? letters between Merton and Giroux, versions of numerous essays, and even a rejection slip from Harcourt, Brace, Giroux?s original firm, dating from 1940, in which the publisher?s reader said of one of Merton?s early autobiographical novels, ?I think Mr. Merton?s got something, but not quite enough to do anything about.?

     The new materials will be made available for research along with the rest of the Center?s collection of over 50,000 items.  In an interview with The Louisville Courier-Journal, Center director Dr. Paul M. Pearson predicted that scholars ?would have a field day? investigating the newly received documents.

    The first international Thomas Merton conference to be held in Spain, entitled ?Seeds of Hope: Thomas Merton?s Contemplative Message,? will take place October 27-29, 2006 at the Auditorio Municipal de San Francisco in Avila.  The conference is co-sponsored by the Centro Internacional de Estudios Misticos in Avila and the Thomas Merton Center of Bellarmine University.

     Presenters will include: conference co-director Fernando Beltrán Llavador: ?Thomas Merton and ?The Great Feast of Christian Hope??; conference co-director Paul M. Pearson: ?Emblems for a Season of Fury: The Art of Thomas Merton?; Fr. James Conner, OCSO: ?Thomas Merton: Monk and Spiritual Master?; James Forest: ?Thomas Merton as a Living Bridge Linking Christians East and West?; Erlinda G. Paguio: ?Hope as an Unexpected, Incomprehensible and Total Gift: Reflections on Merton?s Life and Writings?; Fr. Francisco Rafael de Pascual, OCSO: ?The Secret Hope and the Hoped-for Secret: Keys for Life?; Sonia Petisco: ??O Sweet Escape! O Smiling Flight!?: Recital and Commentaries to a Selection of Poems by Thomas Merton?; Cristóbal Serran-Pagan y Fuentes: ?Seeds of Hope in Times of Crisis: Saint John of the Cross and Thomas Merton?; and Bonnie Thurston: ??A Realm of White Hot Faith?: Thomas Merton on Islam in Spain.?

     The conference will be opened by Miguel Ángel García Nieto, the Mayor of Ávila and President of the Municipal Foundation of Mystical Studies.  The program will also include liturgy of the hours with the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos and Cistercian monks and nuns, times for prayer and contemplation, celebration of the Eucharist, cultural activities, and visits to the town, best known through its associations with the Spanish mystics St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross.

     Registration fees for the conference are $75 until August 31, 2006, and $100 thereafter (until October 16).  Checks, payable to ?Merton Conference,? may be sent to Dr. Paul M. Pearson, Merton Conference in Avila, Thomas Merton Center, Bellarmine University, 2001 Newburg Road, Louisville, KY 40205.  Initial information on accommodations can be found at http://www.avilaturismo.com; further information on the conference itself, including the schedule, can be found at www.ciem.es or merton.org/Spain/.   

Merton Room Dedication Planned

     On July 4, the official opening of the Thomas Merton Reading Room at the Vancouver School of Theology will take place at 6.30 p.m.  Speakers will include ITMS President Paul M Pearson, Thomas Merton Society of Canada President Ross Labrie, Abbot Damien Thompson, OCSO of the Abbey of Gethsemani, and Wendy Fletcher, Principal of the Vancouver School of Theology.  At 7:30 p.m., Bernie Lucht of the Canadian Broadcasting Company, producer of the CBC program on Thomas Merton, ?Heretic Blood,? will give a public lecture entitled ?Backstage Stories with Thomas Merton.?  On July 5 and 7 and 12:45 p.m., Paul Pearson will present gallery talks on Thomas Merton?s photography in  conjunction with the exhibition entitled ?A Hidden Wholeness: The Zen Photography of Thomas Merton,? which will run from July 3-28 in the Iona Building at VST.

Two Members Added to Merton Annual Board

    Two new members have recently been added to the Board of Editors of The Merton Annual, a refereed journal since its inception in 1986.  Both have been active with the Annual through the past several issues.  Professor David Belcastro of Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, wrote the Bibliographic Survey Essay for Volume 17 and coordinated Book Reviews for Volume 18 (2006).  Professor Lynn Szabo of Trinity Western University, Vancouver, British Columbia, edited the sub-section in Volume 17 which derived from the papers of the 2003 General Meeting in Vancouver. 

     Other current members of the Board include: A. M. Allchin (University of Wales), Anne E. Carr (University of Chicago), Michael Casey, OCSO (Tarrawarra Abbey, Australia), David Cooper (Michigan State University), Lawrence Cunningham (University of Notre Dame), Robert Faricy, SJ (Gregorian University, Rome), Donald Grayston (Simon Fraser University), Patrick Hart, OCSO (Abbey of Gethsemani), Terrence Kardong, OSB (Assumption Abbey), Dewey Kramer (Georgia Perimeter College), Ross Labrie (University of British Columbia), Elena Malits, CSC (St. Mary?s College), Patrick F. O?Connell (Gannon University), Bonnie Bowman Thurston (Wheeling, WV), Rowan Williams (Canterbury, England).

    On December 11, the Thomas Merton Foundation sponsored a presentation commemorating the thirty-seventh anniversary of Thomas Merton?s death entitled ?Reflections on Thomas Merton: A Conversation with Fr. Matthew Kelty,? moderated by Dr. William Paulsell, at the Clifton Center Theater in Louisville, Kentucky.

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      On Jan. 22-27, George Kilcourse taught a class entitled ?Thomas Merton: An Engaged and Inclusive Spirituality,? in St. Petersburg, Florida, sponsored by Columbia Theological Seminary in cooperation with Eckerd College.

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     On Jan. 30, Louisville?s Cathedral Heritage Foundation and the Cathedral of the Assumption sponsored its twelfth annual Merton Birthday program with a presentation entitled ?Merton?s Humor: ?Snapping the Fingers at Life?? by George Kilcourse.

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     On January 30-February 3, Esther de Waal led a Thomas Merton Study Seminar at the Cathedral College of Preachers in Washington, DC.

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     On the four Saturdays in February, Brenda Fitch Fairaday led a discussion group on the book Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master entitled ?Life and Holiness: Reading Thomas Merton? at Blessed Sacrament Church in New York City.

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          On February 23, Terry Taylor and Paul M Pearson led a discussion group on Thomas Merton?s Peace in the Post-Christian Era at Carmichaels Bookstore in Louisville, KY.

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     On March 15, Abbot John Eudes Bamberger spoke on ?Thomas Merton: Monk and Spiritual Master? at the Cralle Theater, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY, sponsored by the Bellarmine Thomas Merton Center.

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     On March 19, Paul M. Pearson gave a presentation entitled ?Thomas Merton: A Monk with the Vision of an Artist? to the Thomas Merton Society of Rochester at St. Joseph?s Motherhouse, Pittsford, NY.

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      On April 1, Patrick O?Connell gave a presentation entitled ?Mending Walls: Thomas Merton?s Evolving Poetic Imagination? at the South Central meeting of the Conference on Christianity and Literature in New Orleans.

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     On April 6, John Collins gave a presentation entitled, ?Thomas Merton?s Reflection on the Passion? at the Calvary Retreat Center in Shrewsbury,MA. 

     On May 25, Sr. José Hobday, OSF will give a presentation entitled ?Christianity ? A Living and Perpetual Revolution: The Challenge of Thomas Merton? at the Cralle Theater, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY, sponsored by the Bellarmine Thomas Merton Center.  The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.

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     June 19-23, Vaughn Fayle will present a course entitled ?Thomas Merton and the Theology of Art? at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.  For further information contact Dr. Opal Easter: phone: 773-753-5337; email: [email protected]; website: www.ctu.edu.

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     June 25-30, Jonathan Montaldo will speak on ?Thomas Merton: In Search of Peace? as part of a course entitled ?Catholic in the USA? at La Salle University in Philadelphia.  For further information contact Fr. Frank Berna, OFM: phone: 215-951-1346; email: [email protected].

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     From June 25 through July 1, Anthony Padovano will present a course entitled ?Thomas Merton and Contemporary Spirituality? as part of the Institute for Adult Spiritual Renewal at the Lakeshore Campus of Loyola University, Chicago.  For further information phone 312-915-7970 or visit the website at www.retreatsintl.org.

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     July 3-7, Dr. Monica Weis, SSJ will present a course entitled ?Finding the Sky within You: Thomas Merton, Man of Prayer and Contemporary Issues? at the Vancouver School of Theology, Chalmers Institute, Vancouver, BC.  For further information phone 604-822-9563 or email: [email protected], or visit the website at www.vst.edu.

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     July 16-22, Fr. Patrick Collins will lead a Thomas Merton Retreat at St. Columban Center, Derby, NY.  For further information, phone 716-947-4708.

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     The next ?Week with Thomas Merton? Elderhostel at Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY, will be held from Sunday October 8 through Friday October 13; for further information contact Linda Bailey by phone at 502-452- 8161 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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     On October 11, Robert Ellsberg, editor-in-chief of Orbis Books, will give a presentation entitled ?Saints for Now: Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day and Henri Nouwen? at the Cralle Theater, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY, sponsored by the Bellarmine Thomas Merton Center.  The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.

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