Joe Durepos

Currently on my desk: The Thorny Grace of It by Brian Doyle, and Love and Salt by Amy Andrews and Jessica Mesman Griffith. The first book is a collection of hilarious and humble essays by one of our finest writers; the second book is an epistolary memoir sustained by "faith and friendship." Both books are published by Loyola Press, my favorite Catholic publisher. Loyola’s identification is a part of their mission: they release a diverse range of beautiful books that speak to the breadth of contemporary Catholic faith and culture. And, best of all, they reflect the lived world, in all of its complexities, joys, and pains.

It should be no surprise that they are the perfect fit to publish Pope Francis’s first essay collection in English, The Church of Mercy. It’s a literary event, and like everything else Francis touches, an opportunity to rethink how Catholic faith can reach and inspire the masses beyond Mass. The book is now available for pre-order. Head over to grab a copy, and check out the rest of Loyola’s amazing catalog.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Joe Durepos, executive editor for trade book acquisitions at Loyola Press, about his path toward this literary ministry, his thoughts on contemporary Catholic literature, and the unique Jesuit identity of Loyola. 

1. You have been the Executive Editor of Loyola Press since 2002. What was your path toward this position?

I have been an acquisitions editor at Loyola Press since April 2002. The “Executive Editor” title looks nice on my business card, but I’m a lower case kind of guy.

My path to this position would have to be credited to Carol and Will Durepos, my wonderful parents. Who read to me, bought me books, and encouraged me to read at an obnoxiously early age.

Also, my Grandma Georgia, who in third grade gave me the first two volumes of the Hardy Boys series for Christmas.

After becoming tired of all my cool toys, and out of sheer boredom, I picked up The Tower Treasure and The House on the Cliff and never looked back.

Those books opened a secret world to my imagination and I was enthralled and became a life-long reader.

My father was in the Air Force, we lived in 26 different houses by the time I was 16.

Reading was one of my only constants as a grew up a military brat.

My parents were also generous about buying books and I was allowed to buy two books every Saturday. Later, I could pretty much buy as much as I wanted from the Scholastic Book Club catalog.

My folks didn’t have a lot of money, but they loved books and were both big readers.

I’m in my position here at Loyola Press because my parents taught me to love books.

2. Tell us about Loyola. How is it a "Jesuit ministry"? What types of books do you hope to publish?

In the twentieth century, we witnessed a global expansion of Ignatian spirituality and culture. Loyola Press is a Jesuit owned company. We’ve been publishing for over 100 years. In 1997, we published a book called The Gift of Peace by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. Due to a constellation of events, the book became a run-away best seller. It reached number two on the hard cover New York Times Best Sellers list and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. It’s still selling today. With that book, Loyola Press experienced a huge success for a small publisher. With the prudent leadership of an executive team who seized the moment, we positioned ourselves to express the best of Ignatian Spirituality. That’s the short-hand term used to describe the application of the wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and the author of The Spiritual Exercises—one of the most enduring spiritual works of the last 500 years.
 
In the last decade, Loyola Press has become a leading provider of Jesuit and Ignatian Spiritual writers and books, along with inspirational books, programs, and Catholic curriculum, all designed to nurture the lived faith of everyday Catholics. St. Ignatius constantly spoke to the early Jesuits about the care of the person; at Loyola Press today, our work is directly inspired by that mission.
 
We have been fortunate to publish writers like Margaret Silf, whose Inner Compass is considered a seminal introduction to The Spiritual Exercises. We also publish Chris Lowney, who wrote the best selling history of the Jesuits, Heroic Leadership. And Chris’s most recent book, Pope Francis:Why He Leads the Way He Leads—which explores the leadership formation of our first Jesuit Pope. We also publish the works of Joe Paprocki, who has become a game changer for catechists everywhere. With The Catechist’s Toolbox and A Well-Built Faith, Joe has not only sold hundreds of thousands of books, he’s also inspired hundreds of thousands of volunteer catechists. And finally, we have had the great good fortune to publish Fr. James Martin, whose My Lifewith the Saints is one of the most popular and best selling Catholic books of the decade.

3. That's an impressive lineup. I'm currently reading and loving Brian Doyle's new collection of essays, The Thorny Grace of It. Brian's one of the most inventive Catholic writers out there: as lyric as anybody, and gifted with the ability to find beauty in all things. And what most impresses me about him is that he's a mainstay of Catholic presses and publications, and yet he's also a regular in publications like The Kenyon Review and The American Scholar. Do you think it's important for Catholic writers to have a wide literary range like Brian?

I think Brian is a one-of-a-kind talent. I like to publish Brian because he makes me laugh, makes me think, helps me to believe, to love, sometimes cry, and always wonder in awe at what a gifted writer can create with words. As to your specific question of publishing Catholic writers who have a wide range like Brian--do you know of others? Can you provide me names?

4. Brian is unique, but I would add Ron Hansen, Alice McDermott, Mary Biddinger, Amanda Auchter, Erin McGraw, Mary Karr, Tobias Wolff, Jim Shepard, and of course Dana Gioia to the list. Yet for all the practicing and wavering Catholics in America, I wish it were a longer list. Based on your own experience, is the problem a lack of great writing informed by faith, a lack of venues devoted to publishing and reviewing that writing, a lack of readers, or something else?

Well Nick, now you’ve come to the rub with Catholic writers. Mary Karr, Tobias Wolff, Alice McDermott, Ron Hansen—are not simply Catholic writers, they are in fact some of the finest writers publishing today. Their renown, their literary reputations are not based on their personal faith or the faith of the characters they write about. But on the literary merit of their work. You’ve also mentioned some writers I’m not familiar with, my bad. In answer to your question, there are marketplace realties that are determinative. As for venues devoted to publishing, most Catholic publishers publish very little fiction, or none at all. The writers you mention that I’ve read are all published by the large trade houses. If I were a novelist or a poet who was Catholic, I’m not sure I would self-identify that way. The desire is to be read widely and if you’re a good writer, than your talent carries the day, even while your faith may inform your writing. But a non-Catholic is as likely to enjoy Tobias Wolff’s Old School as is a Catholic. Mary Karr’s Lit is definitely more Catholic than say, The Liars’ Club, but its Catholicism is a part of the story—it’s not the story. Well I’ve rambled on long enough, but one last thing, yes, there is lack of readers. But that’s a bigger issue than can be discussed here.

5. Speaking of Catholic writers--Loyola Press will publish the English translation of Pope Francis' essay collection, The Church of Mercy. You've called Francis "arguably the most fascinating person on the planet." What draws you to Francis? Why do you suspect he has galvanized the hearts and minds of Catholics and non-believers alike?

Loyola Press is a Jesuit publishing company, Francis is the first Jesuit Pope. From the moment Pope Francis stepped onto the world stage and asked us to pray for him, we knew we were seeing and hearing something different, something special. One year later, the promise of that moment has been seen in Pope Francis’s efforts to revitalize, to renew, and to refocus the Church on being The Church of Mercy for a broken world.

Every day I receive a Google alert filled with news stories about Pope Francis. Scanning them I’m amazed at the consistent message of love, forgiveness, tolerance, advocacy on behalf of the poor, the primacy of prayer, and the joy of knowing Jesus.

There is an unadorned exuberance in the way Pope Francis expresses his love of the Gospels and trust in the redemptive love of Jesus.

As for non-believers, they see he’s real, authentic. He has that quality that makes you say, “I want what he has.” He’s an aspirational model and an inspirational one at the same time.

I believe the way he leads, which is grounded in his Jesuit formation, has uniquely prepared him for the enormous task of being Pope in these challenging times.

Chris Lowney, the author of the best-selling book on Jesuit leadership practices, Heroic Leadership, writes in his new book, Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads that real leadership is service. I believe when people see Francis, they see a servant, an advocate, someone who cares, someone who will walk with them and listen.

The depth of spiritual hunger in the world today is overwhelming. But the love of Jesus is transformative, merciful, and never-ending. Pope Francis knows this, and can’t wait to show us, through his gestures, his actions, his words, whatever it takes. And no matter how cynical we’ve become, we still want to believe in transformational love.

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Joseph Durepos is the executive editor for trade book acquisitions at Loyola Press, where he has worked since 2002. At Loyola Press he’s acquired and published over 200 books, including New York Times Best Selling authors Fr. James Martin (My Life with the Saints) and Joan Wester Anderson (In the Arms of Angels).

Durepos worked in an Independent bookstore while attending college in Santa Fe. At 26, he went to work for Random House as a publishing sales representative in Chicago.

In 1986, Durepos began working as a manager/buyer for Anderson’s Bookshop in the Chicago area, one of the leading Independent bookstores in the country, and the 2011 winner of Publisher’s Weekly Bookstore of the Year.

In 1996, Durepos became an independent literary agent specializing in religion and spirituality titles.  He sold over 200 books in six years, including No Greater Love by Mother Teresa and The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer both with worldwide sales of over 500,000 copies and Life’s Greatest Lessons by Hal Urban with sales of 300,000.

As both an agent and editor, his books have been New York Times Best Sellers (The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly) and Publishers Weekly Religion Best Sellers (The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer and I Like Being Catholic by Theresa Borchard & Michael Leach); they have also won Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year awards twice (Prayer is A Place by Phyllis Tickle and My Life with the Saints by James Martin, S.J.), and Lessons for Living by Pope John Paul II was an Amazon.com Top 100 Best Seller. He is also the author of A Still More Excellent Way.

Durepos lives in Woodridge, IL with his dog, Sasha, an 18-year-old American Eskimo.