variation and fugue on a happy liturgical typo
by Melaney Poli
Lead us into the solemn joy of sanctity
and the heavenly peach which passes all understanding.
-- from the Pentecost novena
o heavenly peach that passes all understanding
o great peach of heavenliness
o peach that tastes of heaven
o heaven beyond all understanding
o understanding that cannot grasp peaches ....
newsletter editor
Vicki K. Black
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Summer 2016 Issue Features Poetry
blurring the boundaries of tradition
It was the politically charged summer of 1968 when poetry appeared for the first time in the
Anglican Theological Review. Or rather, the work of one poet, Denise Levertov, who like
Robert Lowell and other poets of her generation was as well-known at the time for her anti-war activism as for her own religiously inflected body of work.
It took another four years before the
ATR
made the publication of poetry a regular feature of the journal. In 1972, Robert Cooper, then a professor of religion and ethics at Nashotah House, accepted the new position of poetry editor, placing the work of poets alongside those of theologians and historians.
This was a pioneering decision. Forty-four years later, at a time when the rigid boundaries separating academic disciplines have at last begun creatively to blur, the poetry section of the ATR remains a feature unique in the world of theological journals, and one of its greatest strengths....
--Roger Ferlo
President, ATR Board of Trustees
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Crossing the Threshold
submitting poetry to the ATR
What is the first threshold that a poem submitted to the ATR must cross? Whenever I read a poem I seek to be taken to a place that would be inaccessible through prose. Poetry is always, for me, a doorway into the uncanny, the mysterious, the unexplainable. The poem need not be complex; it should most certainly not be impenetrable. But it is mystery. Christianity is the mystery of God Incarnate, whose Ever-Presence in every creature and in creation is the source of all human emotion. The poetry we publish in the ATR recognizes, implicitly or explicitly, this Presence....
Poetry Editor and Poetry Book Review Editor
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Here are two poems from our Summer 2016 issue that highlight the range of experiences we strive to offer. As you will see,
"Prisoner" by Mark Goad
is in free verse, while
"Obituary" by C. B. Anderson
pays attention to form. The first speaks explicitly of the God Incarnate; the other does so implicitly, through creation. Both poems take us to a place inaccessible through prose, by way of emotional intensity and painstaking word choices. We hope you enjoy them.
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Summer 2016 issue now available!
In addition to the expanded poetry section, a variety of articles and book reviews also await readers of the latest issue of the ATR. Click here to learn more about what you will find in this issue.
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