The award-winning novelist and short-story writer talks about writing, reading, the place of faith and religion in fiction, and the meditative qualities of authors like Walker Percy and Flannery O’Connor.

When states scramble to balance their budgets in the face of declining revenue, prison funding is often near the top of the cut list. Access to a prison chaplain is widely considered a privilege granted to the undeserving rather than a right. This attitude is unworthy of a civilized nation with strong Christian roots.