No one has been a more incisive chronicler of the intersection of American art, culture, and religion than Paul Eli. His new book, The Last Supper, chronicles the way the artists of the 1980s, from U2 to Toni Morrison to Martin Scorcese, carried on a charged but "cryptoreligous" conversation about faith at a time when religion often became a part of aggressive political fights. Though these artists were often unorthodox, or didn't profess a particular faith, they repeatedly engaged with religious imagery and themes, finding new forms of spiritual expression in the midst of a fractious decade. The book is a brilliant and provocative look at the beginnings of the post-secular age in which we now find ourselves. He will be joined in conversation by Fairfield professor and National Book Award-winning author Phil Klay. This lecture is part of the MFA Inspired Writers Series. 

Elie is a senior fellow in Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker.  

His third book, The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in May. He is the author of two previous books, The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage (2003) and Reinventing Bach: The Search for Transcendence in Sound (2012), both National Book Critics Circle Award finalists.  He lives in Brooklyn.