Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes
Writer / Speaker / Professor of English
Welcome…
There’s an old story that begins, “One day, when Jesus was teaching, a lawyer stood up to test him.
“Teacher,” the lawyer asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What does the Law say?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
As an English Professor, that might be my favorite question in the entire Bible.
When Jesus asks the lawyer about his reading of the Law, he is talking about the Torah, the first 5 books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But most of those books aren’t “laws”… they’re stories. They’re the stories of complicated, broken people and a mysterious God’s unceasing love.
When Jesus asks, “What does the law say” and “How do you read it,” he’s asking questions fit for a literary classroom. He’s suggesting that creative reading is the foundation for living well in the world that God has made. He might even be suggesting that reading well is part of the secret to eternal life.
In this vein, my work centers on how stories shape our imaginations to form lives of justice, grace, and peace. I’m particularly interested in how fiction makes old stories new, be that in the novel’s characterization habits that work to re-enliven Jesus for Victorian readers…or in Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan that helps the lawyer re-imagine the law he knows so well.
Interested? Explore the site to learn more about my writing, speaking, and teaching.
grace & peace,
Recent Articles
Writer / Speaker / Professor of English Literature
Writer
& the American environmental tradition
Speaker
Jessica makes sense of complexity in ways that are engaging and accessible for all audiences, challenging them to find renewed faith, joy, and wonder in their own experiences.
Professor
With teaching experience in high schools & colleges around the globe, Jessica fosters intellectual engagement & practical understanding through her teaching & course design.
Topics, Issues, Questions & News
Jesus According to Charles Dickens
Between 1846 and 1849 Charles Dickens wrote The Life of Our Lord, a simplified version of Jesus’ life for his children, who ranged in age from newborn to 11 years-old at the time of its completion. The work was never intended for publication—it was a family text,...
An Uncomfortable Jesus | Midwest Victorian Studies Conference
This next week I will be presenting a paper on Dickens’s The Life of Our Lord at the Midwest Victorian Studies Association’s annual conference. The end goal of research is, ultimately, sharing what you’ve learned with others, be that through publication, a conference...
Happy (Christian) New Year!
The Christian year begins on Sunday, December 2nd this year, with the beginning of Advent—so for western Christians, now is the time to take stock of the year past and to make resolutions for the future as we once again begin to communally join ourselves to the story...