Scholars from around the world gathered at Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies last week to explore the relationship between religious belief and creativity

It was a character in Muriel Spark’s novel The Bachelors who said: “To me, being Catholic is part of my existence.” It is a sentiment that could have been expressed by any of the Catholic writers and artists discussed at the second biennial conference on “Catholicism, Literature and the Arts: Legacies and Revivals” held in Durham University last week.

Through its Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham is forging a successful path, exploring, analysing and celebrating Catholicism. While the centre is part of the university’s theology department, from its foundation 11 years ago it has avoided narrowness of purpose and sought broader horizons.

Thanks to academics in other departments, especially Stephen Regan, director of the Centre for Poetry and Poetics, Stefano Cracolici, co-director in the Centre for Visual Arts and Culture, and Bennett Zon, of the department of music, there is enthusiasm throughout the university for participating in a discourse about the place of faith in the work of artists and writers. And it is clear that study of this kind is bearing fruit both in Durham and elsewhere. Understanding the influence of Catholicism helps make far better sense of writers, be they Muriel Spark or David Jones, or even someone who would once be described as “lapsed”, like Seamus Heaney.