The Poet's Quest For God

I'm thrilled to have a poem included in this anthology "The Poet's Quest For God: 21st Century Poems of Faith, Doubt and Wonder" edited by Fr Oliver Brennan and Todd Swift.

The original call for submissions went out in 2012 and there were times since then when it seemed that the anthology might not be published. But thanks to the perseverance of Todd Swift of Eyewear Publishing and the help of many others, it has finally appeared and I got my copy earlier this week.

It's a weighty tome of 457 pages, billed as "21st century poems of faith, doubt and wonder". My poem, "A Present from America", is based on a visit to what could only be described as a Religious Goods Supermarket in Modesta, Califonia and being struck by what was available there and what was not. I did find the CDs of Christian Rap music which my son had asked for.

This major anthology gathers work from renowned contemporary poets from around the world. These include poets from a wide variety of faiths – as well as agnostics and atheists – and the volume is introduced by renowned religious scholar Professor Ewan Fernie.

The anthology includes work by over 300 poets from the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, India, Australia and beyond. These include Rae Armantrout, Patience Agbabi, Charles Bernstein, Fanny Howe, Andrew Motion, Michael Symmons Roberts and Ruth Padel.

Among the Irish poets whose work is included are Colin Dardis, Rachel Coventry, Barbara Smith, Nessa O'Mahony, John F. Deane, Vona Groarke, Susan Millar Dumars, Kevin Higgins and many more. You can check the full list of contributors and purchase a copy on the Eyewear website.

There are articles on the anthology here, https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=58379
and on the Irish Catholic newspaper website: http://www.irishcatholic.ie/article/still-small-voices-poetry