In the Pilgrim’s Company: Ignatian Storytelling Initiative

Description of our collaboration proposal

To celebrate the Ignatian Year, the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States is launching a global Ignatian storytelling initiative entitled In the Pilgrim’s Company, and storytellers are invited to contribute their ideas. This an opportunity to delve deeply into the character of one of the many people St. Ignatius encounters during his pilgrim journey – from those early pages stuck in bed with a wounded leg to the final pages in Rome beginning charitable works. 

The storytelling challenge is to identify a character from the autobiography – other than St. Ignatius – and explore their thoughts, motivations and perspectives on the would-be saint.

The challenge is to drop oneself into this classic story, to take a look around with fresh eyes and to glean new insight from that reflective experience. Perspectives often overlooked, ignored or forgotten come to the forefront, deepening our understanding of Ignatius’ life. This, in many ways, is imaginative prayer.

They must be original pieces of fiction (up to 5,000 words), poetry, one-act plays or comic strips. Successful submissions will:

- Clearly identify and assume the persona of a character that is in Ignatius’ autobiography, or a character that might have been in his autobiography (e.g. a townsperson);

- Reflect a deep understanding of Ignatius’ autobiography, as demonstrated by an accurate historical representation of both the life of Ignatius and the society in which he lived;

- Reflect a deep understanding of Ignatian spirituality, the Society of Jesus and the Catholic imagination; and,

- Connect the story of Ignatius with the signs of the times today, as well as the Ignatian Year’s call to conversion.

Needs, support or request

If you are interested in submitting your work, please complete the submission form following this link. If you have any questions, email [email protected].

There will be two submission periods: March 1, 2021 through June 15, 2021 and October 1, 2021 through January 31, 2022. This project is open to anyone in the world, though at this time, all submissions must be in English.