The internationally acclaimed author of 14 books, which include bestsellers such as G.K. Chesterton: Wisdom and Innocence (Ignatius, 1997), Literary Converts (Ignatius, 2000), Tolkien: Man and Myth (Ignatius, 2001), Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile (Baker Books, 2001), and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc (Ignatius, 2002), Joseph Pearce is a world-recognized biographer of modern Christian literary figures. Pearce’s books have been published and translated into over eight languages.
Pearce converted to the Catholic faith in 1989 as a result of “becoming friends” with several 20th-century literary figures he researched who had been Christians, and ultimately converts to Catholicism – particularly G.K. Chesterton. As a younger man, Pearce was “extremely anti-Catholic” and even had opposed Pope John Paul II’s visits to England. His earlier viewpoint gradually shifted as he learned more about the writings and beliefs of the literary converts he would eventually profile.
As Writer in Residence and professor of literature at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida since September 2001, Pearce also serves as Editor of the Saint Austin Review, a trans-Atlantic monthly cultural review. A native of Great Britain, Pearce relocated to the United States in 2001 to serve at Ave Maria University. He is also contributing writer to a number of newspapers and magazines in the United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada.
An accomplished tutor, teacher and speaker, Pearce has participated and lectured at a wide variety of international and literary events at major colleges and universities in the U.S., Britain, Europe and Canada. He is also a regular guest on national and international television and radio programs, and has served as consultant for film documentaries on J.R.R. Tolkien and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Professor Pearce has lectured at past Center events on both J.R.R. Tolkien and the Catholic Literary Revival of the 1900s. His lecture will take place on September 18, 2007 at 8:00 in Room 155 of DeBartolo Hall.
