The Confessional by J.L. Powers created quite a stir as the writer’s scheduled book conference at Cathedral High School was cancelled.
Powers’ novel is a fictional novel that deals with life as seen through the eyes of six teenage students from Jesuit High School, a fictional all-male catholic high school, set in El Paso.
The book deals with racial border tension, violence, homosexuality, profanity and questions of faith.
Powers, who teaches online English courses for EPCC, and has had sections at Cathedral, was scheduled to give a speech at the school about her writing methods and the structure of the book.
Sam Govea, principal of Cathedral high school, decided to cancel Powers’ appearance.
“There is a conflict of interest with the content of the book and the culture of Cathedral High School, said Govea.”
Denise Dunbar, a faculty member at the school, regrets that Powers was not allowed to speak and hopes that in the future she will be able to explain her process.
“We take the opinions and wishes of our parents very seriously and some of them explained concern about the issues that were portrayed on the book,” said Dunbar.
“Parents wanted to have the opportunity to present issues of sex and violence to their kids at home and we opted to respect their decision.”
Teachers and administrators maintained that she is a great writer and that if Powers publishes a less controversial book, there would not be a problem with having her come speak.
“There are a number of sex topics in the book. That’s just something that we don’t need to deal with,” Govea said. “I’m not going to condemn this book. If parents want their child to read it, they need to get invloved.”
Powers said that her book was completely fictional.
“These characters were created entirely on my head. I drew on experiences I had with students at Cathedral as well as students I’ve had elsewhere. I also drew on my personal experience. Ultimately, I would have to say that if my characters resemble anybody I know, it would have to be myself.”
Powers felt disillusioned that she was not able to give her talk.
“I was disappointed,” she said. “I recognize that the administration’s intentions were pure. They believed they were protecting the students. But I disagree that silencing a discussion about issues that affect students on their everyday life is a good way to protect those same students.”
“It was an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, members of the community and the church to get together and discuss these issues. Unfortunately, we never had a chance to have that discussion. That makes me sad, but I still maintain full respect for the school,” Powers said.
