Three-Time UD Alumnus to Speak on Poetry, Christian Humanism
Date published: Sept. 20, 2018
“Poetry is civically important for a healthy and happy society,” said three-time UD
alumnus Matt Mehan, BA ’00 MA ’09 PhD ’14. “In other words, a healthy politics requires
a healthy poetics.”
On Sept. 27 on UD’s Irving campus, Mehan discussed these ideas in a lecture titled
“Christian Humanism for the 21st Century: The Poetic Arts of Liberty,” sponsored by the English Department and the Center for Thomas More Studies. He explored
how in mythology and poetry, images of the good form character and teach us to be
more loving and to govern our passions; if, he said, we do not learn to deal with
beauty in communion and love with others, then “we end up shouting at each other on
Twitter.”
Mehan’s commentary on these same topics appeared in the Wall Street Journal and also relates to his recently published book of poetry, Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals, intended ostensibly for readers ages 8-12, but really meant, Mehan says, “as a Family
Book” with something “for all ages: littles, middles and adults.” In Mehan’s Mammals, Mehan presents two mythical creatures, the Dally and the Blug. These friends travel
through an alphabet of paintings, poems and puzzles, fending off forces of sadness
through friendship, wit and wisdom and learning to govern their spirits and love their
fellow mammals.
The book includes 26 mythical mammals, with one poem for each letter of the alphabet;
26 oil paintings that complement the story; 26 full-color block illustrations that
feature many details and puns for each letter A-Z; a glossary in the back for the
discovery of mysteries of nature and natural history; a treasure hunt guide for finding
threatened, endangered and extinct species hidden throughout the illustrations; and
a “Las Vaquitas Lullaby.”
The book is available at tanbooks.com or amazon.com.
Mehan is a poet, teacher, musician and, of course, mammal. He is dear friends with
the book’s illustrator, John Folley. He teaches at The Heights School and at Hillsdale
College’s Kirby Center in Washington, D.C., where he lives with his wife, Molly, and
their own not-so-mythical mammals, seven children who love nature and their dad’s
bedtime stories.