Our Faith in Writing explores the intersection of writing and faith through conversations about the writing process, the reading life, contemplative practices, and more. Host Charlotte Donlon is a writer and a spiritual director for writers, and she believes writing and reading help us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world.

Subscribe to Our Faith in Writing wherever you listen to podcasts, and don’t forget to rate and review the show letting us know how these conversations are helping you feel less alone in your writing life and your reading life.Our Faith in Writing is a podcast that explores the intersection of writing and faith through conversations about the writing process, the reading life, contemplative practices, and more.

In this episode of Our Faith in Writing, Charlotte Donlon talks to Catherine Ricketts about mothering and making art and how each of those things affect the other. An essay Ricketts wrote for the Ploughshares website is one jumping off point for their conversation. That piece is "The Maternal Vision of Leslie Jamison and Marilynne Robinson." They also discuss the artwork of Alice Neel and Becky Suss, why mother artists inspire Cat’s writing, and more.

More Links from this Episode:

About Becky Suss

Suss has work in New Grit: Art & Philly Now, on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through August 22

About Alice Neel

Alice Neel: People Come First, on view at the Met through August 1

Cat's website, where you can subscribe to newsletter

Cat Ricketts on Twitter

Cat Rickets on Instagram

Catherine Ricketts is an essayist and songwriter based in Philadelphia. Her literary nonfiction about the arts, grief and joy, and spirituality appears on the Ploughshares blog, in Image Journal, The Millions, Paste, and NPR-affiliate The Key, and is forthcoming in The Christian Century. Concurrent with her own writing, she has maintained a vibrant career in the arts and is passionate about nurturing the work of other artists, whether by writing about them, commissioning new work, or producing performances. She is currently at work on two books of nonfiction, one about grief and beauty, the other about motherhood and artistic practice. Find her on Instagram at @bycatherinericketts, where she hosts the semiweekly "IG Live Lullaby," or on the web at www.catherinedanaricketts.com.

Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website. Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. You can subscribe to her newsletter and connect with her onTwitter and Instagram.