Jeffrey Bilbro
Website Editor-in-Chief
Jeffrey Bilbro is a Professor of English at Grove City College. He grew up in the mountainous state of Washington and earned his B.A. in Writing and Literature from George Fox University in Oregon and his Ph.D. in English from Baylor University. His books include Words for Conviviality: Media Technologies and Practices of Hope, Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News, Loving God’s Wildness: The Christian Roots of Ecological Ethics in American Literature, Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place (written with Jack Baker), and Virtues of Renewal: Wendell Berry’s Sustainable Forms.
Articles by Jeffrey Bilbro
Useless Reading, Bothies, and Davos
“Fables of School Reform.” The lead of Audrey Watters’s essay says it all: “Over the past five years, more than $13 billion in venture capital has been sunk into education…
Originalism, Local Fiction, and the March for Life
“Remembering Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.” Ten years after Neuhaus’s death, Wilfred McClay reconsiders his life and work. This is a rich, thoughtful profile that brings Neuhaus’s ideas to bear on…
Spirits of Place
John Gatta is the William B. Kenan Jr. Professor of English at Sewanee: The University of the South. He’s the author of several excellent books, including Making Nature Sacred: Literature, Religion,…
Free Markets, Transhumanism, and Populism
"On the Experience of Entering a Bookstore in Your Forties (vs. Your Twenties).” Steve Edwards explores the ecology of reading, pondering the way that books, life, and place are hitched together.…
Dairy Farming, Monks, and Kirk
“For Love of Place: Reflections of an Agrarian Sage.” Allen White interviews Wendell Berry: “I don’t know how to bring about a major transformation of a huge economy, one that…
Craft, Rural America, and Beauty
The Porch will likely be quiet this coming week as we celebrate the Christmas season. Enjoy these next few days on a real porch (or, more likely, in front of…
Amish, the Farm Bill, and Universities
“Conscience and Resistance.” Earlier this year, Scott Russell Sanders described the profound effect that Thomas Merton had on his life: “Beginning with ‘Rain and the Rhinoceros,’ his work has helped…
Whose Nostalgia? Which Liberalism? Reflections on “Faith and Democracy in America”
Liberalism can be marked by the gospel and still be a political and cultural dead end. As Ivan Illich argued, corruptio optimi pessima.
Thomas Merton’s Contemplative Politics
Fifty years ago today, Thomas Merton died suddenly during a visit to Thailand. During the past few months, I’ve been thinking about the ways his life and writings speak both…
Port William, Front Porches, and Mobility
“A Clearing.” The Hudson Review published a new short story by Wendell Berry, narrated by Andy Catlett. “On the Front Porch, Black Life in Full View.” Audra D. S. Burch…
Sabbath, Membership, and Monopolies
“A Grave Climate Warning, Buried on Black Friday.” In the “news that isn’t news” category, Robinson Meyer summarizes the National Climate Assessment. It’s not a cheery picture. “Tallgrass.” Robin Wall…
René Girard, DNA Testing, and Turkeys
"The Evolution of René Girard.” In this excerpt from her new intellectual biography of Girard, Cynthia L. Haven synthesizes the key aspects of his one great insight. “Deneen Among the…