Jack Dudley’s New Book on Spirituality

Milani Lockhart

Dr. Jack Dudley, Associate Professor of English has published a book called, “The New Believers: Religion and the Contemporary Novel,” published by Cambridge University Press. This work is part of the prestigious Cambridge Studies in the 21st century literature and culture series, and it explores how major contemporary authors use storytelling to reimagine spiritual ideas for a diverse world.

Dudley shared that the project began long before his career. Originating in his undergraduate years, working on his Bachelor’s degree in English, French and Theology. He recalled that “the two disciplines [contemporary novelists and spirituality], were asking and thinking about similar issues and questions but were not in conversation with each other.” The disconnect sparked the central question of his book: What happens when theological ideas are imagined in narrative form? 

He further explained that religious or spiritual ideas change and transform when placed inside stories, and these stories may help readers “discern which beliefs can do the best good for the material world.”

His work includes Margaret Atwood, George Saunders, J.M. Coetzee and Junot Díaz, all writers who, as he noted, are “the kind of writers that academics are talking about, but they’re also the kind of writers that people who aren’t in the academy are reading on a regular basis.” Their reach and literary influence made them ideal figures for examining how contemporaryfiction engages spiritual realities.

Dudley also emphasizes the role Mount students played in the book’s development. He described the English department as essential to his work, saying “the book could not have been written without the faculty at the Mount and the students.” Classroom conversations, student curiosity and ideas informed the book’s tone and approach. He reflected with the question “How can I make these ideas seem vibrant and engaging?” which is an energy he strives to bring in his courses and the book. 

With “The New Believers,” the litterateur offers an appropriate examination of how fiction can help readers navigate spiritual complexities in the modern world. The book stands as a testament to the intellectual community of the Mount that helped bring it to life.