In the Danish Golden Age of literature and philosophy, there were three significant names that still stand out today: Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard and N.F.S. Grundtvig. The non-Danish world has very much heard of the first two but the third is as unknown as it is unpronounceable. And perhaps understandably so. He is ofContinue reading “Uncovered Gems #5: The Danish Psalmist”
Category Archives: Devotional
Uncovered Gems #4: François Mauriac
The list of Nobel laureates for Literature contains more French men than it does of any other demographic. That should not put you off reading Mauriac. But you may have trouble locating his work. His most famous novel, Thérèse Desqueyroux, is possibly the only one you’ll find in a bookshop today, due to the recentContinue reading “Uncovered Gems #4: François Mauriac”
Uncovered Gems #3: “The Singer” by Calvin Miller
“How did you manage to make them cherish all this nothingness?” he asked the World Hater. “I simply make them feel embarrassed to admit that they are incomplete. A man would rather close his eyes than see himself as your Father-Spirit does. I teach them to exalt their emptiness and thus preserve the dignity ofContinue reading “Uncovered Gems #3: “The Singer” by Calvin Miller”
Uncovered Gems #2: Ruth Pitter
Last week I posted a poem in honour of Christina Rossetti, who I declared one of the Anglican church’s greatest literary exports. Today, in this week’s uncovering, I want to share with you the work of a widely forgotten gem, the Anglican poet Ruth Pitter. I have my friend Nathanael to thank for this discovery,Continue reading “Uncovered Gems #2: Ruth Pitter”
The Language of Flowers: For Christina Rossetti
As an Anglican myself, I have to say that our literary exports don’t get much better than Christina Rossetti. Granted, she’s in formidable company, alongside George Herbert, John Donne, William Cowper, C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot and R.S. Thomas (why did you need to have the middle initial S in order to be a successful 20th-centuryContinue reading “The Language of Flowers: For Christina Rossetti”
After Rosemary Dobson
Worn, I long for the simplicity of desert, for Abba Poemen’s knee to rest my sleeping head. I call to heart the peace of silent communion, of neighbour and myself in essential speech. But mind is Baroque in its impulse. Chiaroscuro in substance, it curlicues toward ceilings, rhizomatic and elaborate, frantic in its downward andContinue reading “After Rosemary Dobson”
Uncovered gems #1: Eleanor Spence, “Me and Jeshua”
“We’ll have follow-the-leader,” Jacob decided, “and Jeshua can be the leader.” “No – you do it,” said Jeshua. “I like it better being last.” (Eleanor Spence, Me and Jeshua, 1984) Australian author Eleanor Spence has not been completely forgotten. Text Publishing recently reprinted her novel Lillipilly Hill as part of their Australian classics collection, andContinue reading “Uncovered gems #1: Eleanor Spence, “Me and Jeshua””
Under Construction (Glenroy Lent: Maundy Thursday)
All night we pour out bitumen; by day we mark out new lanes, construct the avenues of better days, the now-not-yet of our ways. We close our eyes before the promised land; passed over, we pass over the times when paddock became mill became smelter. Not done with the smelter yet, and yet when theContinue reading “Under Construction (Glenroy Lent: Maundy Thursday)”
Pink Cotton Promise (Glenroy Lent #10)
Even in new homes, morning has old narratives formed by other mornings, by schedules, by delays. So I approach the day as though it’s been before, as though its parameters are fixed, its possibilities known. Adam beheld the first sunrise, called himself inventor. I almost ignore the miracle, too entangled in strands of ground toContinue reading “Pink Cotton Promise (Glenroy Lent #10)”
Going Without (Glenroy Lent #9)
And so, the first breath of autumn hovering above the freeway ramp, the breeze has blown the top of a leafless tree, all severed head, onto the road where cars, eager to catch the green, dodge that bunch of twigs and race. I too have raced, and now I race – in head, in heart.Continue reading “Going Without (Glenroy Lent #9)”
The Consolations of Writing 