February 2-6, 2009
Approaching God through Poetry
- Tickets: $750.
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It has been said that poets are the prophets of our time. In this conference we will explore how the language of poetry can open up our experience of God and draw us more deeply into prayer. Conference sessions will introduce participants to a variety of poetic voices and invite discussion about how poetry can inform and enhance our ministries of proclamation. Some of the poets who will be discussed include Charles Wesley, Mary Oliver, Denise Levertov, and R.S. Thomas.
The conference will include time for worship, prayer, and after-hours exploration and writing in the nave of the Cathedral. This rich week will offer afternoon writing workshops to help participants find and develop their own poetic voices for writing and preaching.
Esther de Waal is a well-known Anglican scholar of the Cistercian, Benedictine, and Celtic traditions of Christian spirituality. Her first book, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict, continues to be a bestseller and has been translated worldwide. It was followed by Living with Contradiction: Further Reflections on the Rule, A World Made Whole: Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition, A Seven Day Journey with Thomas Merton and, most recently Lost in Wonder: The Spiritual Art of Attentiveness. She lives in the Welsh Borders.
Dr. Kathleen Henderson Staudt works as a teacher, poet, and spiritual director at a number of institutions in the Washington, D.C. area. She teaches at Virginia Theological Seminary, Wesley Theological Seminary, and the University of Maryland on writing, poetry, spirituality, and Christian vocation. Her poetry, essays, and reviews are published widely and she is the author of two books: At the Turn of Civilization: David Jones and Modern Poetics and Annunciations: Poems out of Scripture.
Michael S. Glaser has served as poet laureate of Maryland since August, 2004 and has been a professor and administrator at St. Mary’s College of Maryland for more than 35 years. Glaser is a recipient of the Homer Dodge Endowed Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Columbia Merit Award for service to poetry. He has edited two anthologies and published close to 500 poems in a variety of venues. His most recent book is Being a Father, and he has two chapbooks forthcoming, Fire Before the Hands and Remembering Eden.
The Rev. Dr. Bonnie Thurston is a poet, scholar, and author. She spent nearly thirty years teaching English, religious studies, and theology as a university and seminary professor. Ordained into the Disciples of Christ Church in 1984, she is a founding member of the International Thomas Merton Society. Author of numerous books and articles, she has written extensively on Merton as well as given retreats and lectures on the monastic throughout the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. and Europe.