While Mormons have made significant inroads into fantasy, science fiction, and children’s and young adult fiction,as this article points out, these are all conspicuous accomplishments precisely because they have been so commercially successful. While I agree that we have underachieved, I am wary of metropolitan and Eastern expectations about what constitutes literary achievement. And last I checked Mormons across the world are not invulnerable to physical pain, mental illness, unemployment, abject poverty, political and social oppression, and accident, to say nothing of natural disasters, war, and environmental degradation. Mormons might tend to have happier families and more stable marriages, but that isn’t to say that abuse, addiction, infidelity, abandonment, neglect or violence are unknowns. But it is also true that Mormon living isn’t exactly a cakewalk. It is true that great literature emerges from the fiery furnace of experience, and so if experience is frictionless and easy, it may not be conducive to great art.

I don’t think, however, that it gets us close enough to understanding what makes for great literature and what might explain a Mormon penchant for bemoaning the state of Mormon literature. I do not believe that this argument is meant to glorify or advocate for unhappy family life, but we now accept this logic without much thought. The logic is this: great suffering leads to great literature. The New York Times recently posted an article about Mormon literature that uses this same logic. Not having had one myself, I am not sure that is good for literature.” He said with a warm grin, “Mormonism tends to produce a lot of happy childhoods.

Dispensation by Angela Hallstrom