Christendom College alumnus Dominic de Souza is helping shape the future of Catholic storytelling through LegendFiction, a creative writing community dedicated to supporting Catholic fiction authors. Through initiatives like a current short story contest and an upcoming virtual convention, de Souza is creating a creative space where faith, imagination, and artistic excellence can thrive together, directly impacting the culture for the better.
De Souza, who has built a career in marketing and nonprofit work, including his current role as director of marketing for the organization Heroic Men, founded LegendFiction six years ago. What began as a desire for meaningful creative engagement has since grown into a thriving community for writers seeking both fellowship and formation.
“LegendFiction launched during the pandemic for Catholic and Orthodox authors, as a space for authors who love pop culture and wanted more than the literati that already excel in this space,” says de Souza. “Since then, we’ve continued to focus on creating an immersive community that feels more like shared fun, and train authors in the pursuit of excellence and meaning through enjoyment.”
For de Souza, the project is deeply rooted in his formation at Christendom, where he encountered a liberal arts education that shaped both his intellectual and creative life.
“Catholic liberal arts saved me from the compulsion to specialize, and to over-identify with specializing around a skill,” he says. “My time at Christendom introduced me to so many new patterns of thought and friendships, and these helped inoculate me against the defensive and self-congratulatory thinking of my past.”
That formation continues to inform his work today, as he seeks to cultivate writers who understand their craft as a vocation.
“I am committed to helping authors find their freedom, primarily by sharing the truth of their vocation as authors,” says de Souza. “Since the truth sets you free, it also empowers authors to become the first-responders our culture needs.”
This spring, LegendFiction is hosting its “Saints and Sagas” short story contest, inviting writers to draw inspiration from the lives of saints while embracing the epic, imaginative storytelling that defines much of modern culture. The winning stories will be collected in a printed edition, providing young adult audiences with epic stories of the saints, all from Catholic storytellers.
The contest ties directly into de Souza’s annual virtual convention, LegendHaven, where readers and fans are able to learn from other faith-inspired fiction authors. The convention, scheduled for the first weekend of May, will bring together writers and creators from across the country for discussions, collaboration, and continued formation in the craft of storytelling.
With so many fiction writers currently focusing on ugliness or attacking ideas of goodness, these initiatives reflect de Souza’s broader vision of forming storytellers who can instead engage the culture creatively, meaningfully, and morally.
“Our annual convention continues to grow each year as a beacon for those who anchor in morality and meaning and see more of the myth-making and magic inherent in storytelling,” says de Souza. “We don’t co-opt evangelization but see it as a natural outcome of the verve and fun we share around telling the stories that matter most to us.”
Through LegendFiction, de Souza is building a creative community that is contributing to a broader cultural renewal — one that reflects Christendom’s mission to form lay people to go out into the world and “restore all things in Christ.”