Friday, February 16, 2007

Perhaps a little hyperbolic and short-sighted, but still a thought:

I was in the audience when President Spencer W. Kimball issued his famous challenge to Mormon artists everywhere to "strive for perfection—the best and greatest" and never be "satisfied with mediocrity."

That was in 1977. Thirty years later, I gratefully acknowledge fine Mormon authors and recognize that we have come quite a ways. But my office bookshelves have no books written by Mormons. (Not even by ex-Mormons.) My fiction reading choices are consistently from national markets, not LDS ones. I suspect I represent many lovers of good literature—who also happen to be Mormon. And with the merger of Covenant Communications and Deseret Book, I’m afraid my reading choices will not change. And sadly, though I’ve published a number of books with LDS presses, I doubt I’ll do it again.

posted by Rhapsidiomite @ 9:41 AM
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