Farewell to First Writer-in-Residence

Amanda Bolaños, the first Joan Chittister Writer-in-Residence of the 2022 season, completed her residency at the end of July. She spent her month at Mount Saint Benedict writing about Dorothy Day and stereotypes around female holiness, drawing on liberation theology and the work of Joan Chittister. She is beginning a doctoral program at Duke Divinity School this fall and hopes to develop her writing from this summer into chapters of her eventual dissertation. When asked what this experience has meant for her, Amanda reflected, “It’s incredible to have the opportunity to focus on just one thing: writing a single project. Normally, I’m working on three or four classes, along with keeping up with my two jobs. Here, I could really concentrate on this project, and I find myself so much more passionate about these ideas and about writing. I am so grateful."