Christian Poetics
Initiative
In addition to our work within the broader field of literature and religion, the Christian Poetics Initiative (CPI) asks: Is a distinctive Christian poetics for the 21st century needed, and if so, what forms might it take?
Genesis of CPI
CPI grew out of conversations among a diverse range of literary scholars who believe that a Christian vision of literature and the imagination makes important contributions to literary studies. Believing that it remains for scholars to demonstrate how Christian faith can distinctively enrich our understanding of works of the literary imagination, CPI aims to invigorate an ongoing conversation and generate high-level work within the broader discourses of the field.
CPI Scholars Network
Launched in 2022 as an 18-month pilot program, this network joins working groups of senior, emerging, and early-career literary scholars interested in the meaning and practices of a Christian poetics. In addition to thinking together about these issues, the network provides professional guidance and support, as well as opportunities to collaborate with others invested in this project.
Readers Colloquia
Reading literary texts together offers one of the most fruitful ways to explore critical facets of any poetics. Our Readers Colloquia assemble local students and faculty who engage in communal reading around texts across a wide range of genres and time periods, exploring what a Christian critical lens looks like in practice.
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“Mestizaje, Spirituality, and Feminist Redress in Ana Castillo’s So Far From God (1993)” | March 2, 2024
“Soaked: Religion, Gender, and Theory through M. NourbeSe Philip’s Zong!” | November 11, 2023
"A Poetics of Hospitality through the Work of Anne Carson" | April 15, 2023
“'On Christian Spirituality and Criticism': In Conversation with R.S. Thomas” | February 4, 2022
“Breathturn: The ‘Christology’ of Paul Celan” | December 10, 2022
“Hopeful Despair: The Enigma of Clarice Lispector” | October 8, 2022
“Womanist Spirituality in Literature: A Discussion of Alice Walker’s Short Stories, In Love & Trouble” | April 30, 2022
“Margaret Atwood and Faith” | February 6, 2022
“‘Horrible Grace’: A Study in Flannery O’Connor” | November 6, 2021
“Lyric and Spirit: The Poetics of Breath in Hank Lazer’s The New Spirit” | February 20, 2021
“‘The strength to bear life again’: The Poetry of Rebirth in Sylvia Plath, Lucille Clifton, and Luis Cernuda” | September 26, 2020
“The Abyss: Nietzsche, Futility, and Du Fu, an 8th-Century Chinese Poet” | February 29, 2020
“‘That Glorious Form, that Light insufferable’: Poetry of Incarnation in Milton and Hart Crane” | November 16, 2019
“Travel, Perspective, and Gender: Revelation in the Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop” | August 17, 2019
“Writing and Reading Death: Poetics, Reception, and Beliefs in Dialogue” | April 27, 2019
“Of ‘things unknown’: A Discussion of the Work of Thomas Traherne” | February 22, 2019
“Ancient Clarity Overlaid: A Discussion of Lawrence Joseph’s, So Where Are We?” | December 1, 2018
“Marginalized Voices: Poems of African- and Native-American Experience.” | August 25, 2018
“Visual Poetics in/through Ancient and Experimental Texts: Works from St. Augustine’s Gospel, Charles Bernstein, and Susan Howe” | March 3, 2018
“Christian Reading Practices: Passages from Dante’s Purgatorio, with commentary by Jorge Luis Borges, and T.S. Eliot’s ‘Compound Ghost’ in Little Gidding” | August 12, 2017
“Poetics Ancient and Modern: A Comparison of T.S. Eliot’s Little Gidding and Virgil’s Ecologues” | February 11, 2017
Among Winter Cranes
Inspired by Dante’s image in Purgatorio (XXIV.64), “Among Winter Cranes” is our quarterly e-publication for those who are interested to learn from scholars and writers about current work being done in Christian poetics. Our issues feature interviews, essays, book reviews, and other resources that support further research and collaboration. We welcome contributions from our readers.
SOLAR Network
Scholars of Literature and Religion
The Scholars of Literature and Religion (SOLAR) Network facilitates connections and provides resources for those working at the intersection of literature and religion.
Students pursuing postgraduate work can use the Network’s Scholars Directory to find potential advisors and supervisors who share their research interests, and learn more about study in this area through other Member Resources.
For scholar members, the Network offers opportunities to promote recent publications and announce literature and religion related events.
Upcoming CPI Events
explore more initiatives
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FLPI curates cross-disciplinary conversations which examine works of art through the lens of absence/presence, mortality, and other themes of loss and permanence.
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See an overview of all of our current initiatives.