Best known for a trilogy of historical novels set in the fictional town of Gilead, Iowa, Marilynne Robinson is a prolific essayist, teacher, and public speaker, routinely celebrated as a singular author of American fiction. This collection intervenes in the author's growing critical reputation, pointing to new and exciting links between the author, the historical settings of her novels, and the contemporary themes of her fictional, educational, and theoretical work. Touching on ongoing debates in race, gender, and environmental politics, as well as education, democracy, and the state of critical theory, Marilynne Robinson demonstrates the wider secular and popular impact of the author's work, building on the largely theological focus of previous criticism to suggest new and innovative interpretations of her growing oeuvre.

The collection's four sections are dedicated to Robinson's use of form and style; her exploration of the relationship between gender and the environment; her use of history and the intersection of race, rights, and religion in her work; and linking Robinson to her contemporaries. As such, the collection argues for a reconsideration of Robinson within the field of American Studies, focusing on her invocation of the past in the present. Authors include: Bridget Bennett, Richard King, Sarah Churchwell, Jack Baker, Maria Elena Carpintero Torres-Quevedo, Daniel King, Anna Maguire Elliott, Makayla Steiner, Lucy Clarke, Christopher Lloyd, Tessa Roynon, Alexander Engebretson, Emily Hammerton-Barry, Steve Gronert Ellerhoff and Kathryn E. Engebretson, Paul Jenner and Jennifer Daly.