Revisions and Revisioning

“The Thomas Merton to be found in these pages is the ever-elusive Merton who was forever on a journey, continually moving on, continually revising and revisioning both his life and his writings.”— From the Foreword by Paul M. Pearson

In Revisions and Revisioning, renowned Merton scholar, Patrick F. O’Connell extends the literary legacy of Thomas Merton through his ongoing revisioning of his life and his writings. In this volume, O’Connell invites readers into Thomas Merton’s “workshop” as he engages in the often-complex process of transforming preliminary publications into definitive texts across a broad spectrum of topics and forms. From poetic creation to creative silence, from ascetic self-denial to threats of atomic destruction, from the Egyptian desert to the Church emerging from Vatican II, this volume provides important new evidence of Merton’s commitment to his dual vocation as both literary craftsman and spiritual guide.

Revisions and Revisioning illuminates Merton’s process of writing and rewriting in eight of its diverse manifestations. The selection of works covers all the genres and the major subjects on which Merton wrote and revised across his whole literary career including: how Merton revises at times in order to incorporate material reflecting a more mature perspective on a particular topic; and at other times to take into account current events, altered social or political situations, and newly available information, and still others to satisfy requirements imposed by his membership in a vowed religious order more accustomed to and comfortable with tradition than innovation, as well as to cope with the wishes of editors and publishers and even potential collaborators.

Patrick F. O’Connell, emeritus professor of English and theology at Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania, is a founding member and former president of the International Thomas Merton Society, longtime editor of The Merton Seasonal, and copy editor of The Merton Annual. He has edited sixteen volumes of Merton materials, including twelve volumes of Merton’s monastic conferences (2005–2022) as well as Selected Essays (2013) and Merton and Confucianism (2021). He is also co-author with Christine M. Bochen and William H. Shannon of the award-winning Thomas Merton Encyclopedia (2002) and author of Thomas Merton’s Holistic Spirituality (Liturgical Press, 2026).