daniel fitzpatrick

Danny Fitzpatrick was raised in New Orleans, where his imagination was shaped by the beauty of Immaculate Conception Church as much as by the grandeur of the oak trees, the glory of the clouds at dusk, and the throb of life in the marshes, lakes, and bayous. He grew up listening to his Irish and Sicilian families telling stories. He attended Jesuit High School, where his poems were first published in the student literary review, Calliope. He then studied philosophy at the University of Dallas and continued to write poetry and fiction. He also served as editor-in-chief of the student literary magazine, The University Scholar.

After his time at UD, Danny returned to New Orleans and spent three years teaching at Jesuit. On the birth of his first daughter, he and his wife, Grace, moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. There he wrote his first novel, Only the Lover Sings, a fictional representation of his family’s experience after Hurricane Katrina. He also began to publish poems and essays in journals like Dappled Things. After the publication of his novel, he was invited to collaborate with Catholic sculptor Timothy Schmalz on a new illustrated translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy in honor of the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death.

Having spent a year teaching English and Theology in Tampa, Danny has returned to New Orleans where he teaches English at Jesuit and serves as Editor for Joie de Vivre. He has previously contributed to Genealogies of Modernity, and his book Restoring the Lord’s Day: How Reclaiming Sunday Can Revive Our Human Nature, a study of contemporary abnegation of the Sabbath, has been recently published with Sophia Institute Press.

To view some of Danny's work, click the links below