Words that matter
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a theologian, poet and the author of several books including the forthcoming Kitchen Hymns (2025) and 44 Poems on Being with Each Other (2025). He is a member and former leader of Corrymeela, Northern Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation organization. He grew up Irish-Catholic near Cork, Ireland. Canadian Mennonite approached Ó Tuama as someone who…
Fifty years of listening to poets
A new book celebrates the work of one of the foremost scholars of Mennonite literature. On Mennonite/s Writing: Selected Essays is the first collection of work by Hildi Froese Tiessen, professor emerita of English and peace and conflict studies at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo. Edited by Robert Zacharias and published last December by…
Waiting in the dark
waiting in the dark this season and place tilted away from the sun provides generous hours of darkness darkness may harbour breathtaking fear endless dread of unknowns aching hearts darkness may host healing rest lovemaking visitations in dreams babies grow strong in dark wombs turnips and beet roots stretch and fatten in dark earth darkness…
An everlasting light
God of grace, today we pray for peace for the City of Bethlehem. It has had more than its share of conflict, as it has changed from a sleepy little town to a bustling city that is visited by millions each year. Lord, you know the walls that separate people in Bethlehem: walls of concrete,…
‘Poetry and art for mental health’
Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders may not sound like subjects for art, but a recent exhibit at the Reach gallery proved that art is a powerful medium for educating and talking about mental illness. Hear and See: Poetry and Art for Mental Health featured the work of 14 poets and the same number…
‘I do believe in prayer because I believe in poetry’
Sarah Ens’s writing career started at the age of six with a story suspiciously similar to the children’s book, Julie and the Wolves. But since those early days, she has grown into an award-winning poet. Earlier this month, she won an honourable mention and $150 in a competition for the Young Buck Poetry Prize, a…
Culture-shaping poets tackle a formidable battery of themes and styles
A fresh anthology by the Mennonite Literary Society, 29 Mennonite Poets, is a welcome new frame for stand-out Canadian poetry. For years, Canadian poets have battled the challenges of a national literary climate that almost universally favours prose. In the world of Mennonite literature, this has meant that, while celebrated novelists like Miriam Toews and…
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday, The place for bleakness, twisted mourning, black. I like this day, today, How it holds permission to wallow and be in the dark, To wander in the twisted depths. Today I am low, I am in the earth, I am unbreathing I have been buried alive by the blind of this world They…
Psalm 130
A mini-retreat this week for me, with a couple nights spent at a local camp while my spouse leads the Bible time. Good time for reflection, writing, thinking, reading scripture, walking… and swatting mosquitoes. A poem from one evening… I watch the sun steeping In soggy evening clouds Of grey-blue wisped with orange, pink.…
