

Since 1900, the Christian Century has published reporting, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.
© 2023 The Christian Century.
E. E. Cummings and James Laughlin didn’t write with metaphysical or philosophical ambition. But that doesn’t mean their poetry doesn’t matter.
reviewed by Jon Sweeney
Barbara Crooker enters the shades and brush strokes of daily life with such reverence that readers want to take notice, live better, and die better.
reviewed by Tania Runyan
As two new biographies and a massive collection of poems show, Denise Levertov's distinctive work and life remain relevant and rewarding.
by Jeff Gundy
Christian Wiman offers further evidence that his voice is among the most compelling in contemporary poetry. These poems are filled with theological conundrums, unanswered questions, brutal answers to questions never formed, and above all, contradictions.
reviewed by Jill Peláez Baumgaertner
Ministry is one of the only professions besides writing where a person has daily need for poetry. Poetry refreshes and renews language and adds insight to stories we’ve heard many times. It can be woven meaningfully into sermons, and it bolsters the human spirit.
But pastors often turn to the same poets over and over again, and time to explore new territory is limited.
"Poetry invites you to have an experience. It doesn't want you to drift away into inattention. It wants to grab you."
by Amy Frykholm
To fully celebrate the life and legacy of Maya Angelou, we must contextualize her 86 years of living within the black religious traditions that influenced her and birthed her deep spirituality. While countless scholars have analyzed her literary, political, and cultural contributions, few have situated her work within the scope of black religious life, particularly the African-American Christian tradition.
Our hunger is for words that evoke our deepest emotions, that name the wilderness in which we live—but not alone.
Philip C. Kolin is one of the growing tribe of very fine Christian poets whose work has often been sequestered in the limited venues of independent publishers. His newest collection is a beautifully printed, small hardcover volume that fits comfortably in the palm of the hand. But these are not small or comfortable poems.
reviewed by Jill Peláez Baumgaertner
Excellent Christian preaching names and explores the shadows in order to declare that the light shines in the darkness.
Angela O'Donnell's sassy poems are born of her deeply Catholic imagination. She builds a house of saints, canonized or not.
reviewed by Miho Nonaka
“For decades there has been a premium on language as subject,” says poet Christian Wiman. But recently poets are “trying to find some way of speaking of ‘ultimate things’ with some sort of credibility.”
Amy Frykholm interviews Christian Wiman
When I am blessed with a little more leisure time than usual, I like to spend some of it with poetry.