[9] Zaleski is celebrated for her writings on the afterlife, which include the Encyclopædia Britannica articles on heaven,[10] hell,[11] and purgatory.
[12] Journalist Lisa Miller has called her "the mother of modern heaven studies".
She writes a regular column on faith for The Christian Century, where she is also editor-at-large,[15] and her essays and reviews appear frequently in newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Post, First Things, America, The New York Times Book Review.
[17] In 2003, 2005, and 2008, she won the Associated Church Press Award of Excellence in Theological Reflection.
[18] Zaleski's intellectual journey to Catholicism was included in the "How my mind has changed" series of reflections by noted theologians published at ten-year intervals by The Christian Century.