Can belief thrive without imagination?
The poetic and literary arts have a long history in Christian traditions stretching back to antiquity and intersecting with hymns, love songs, and lectio divina. The beauty of words and the power of narrative sharpen our perceptions of the created order and renew our capacity to hear other words. Literature and prayer both invite us to devotional attention: close engagement with lived reality and to that which transcends it. For Christian writers and poets, rendering the world with words points toward the Word made flesh. In this series we consider the many intersections of faith, literature, and creativity. Participants from different religious backgrounds are invited to explore the rich heritage of Christian literature, from ancient poetry to the postmodern novel and everything in between.
Sophia Stid is a poet and PhD student in Creative Writing & Literature at USC. She is the author of the chapbooks But For I Am A Woman and Whistler's Mother. A graduate of the MFA program at Vanderbilt University, Sophia has also received fellowships and support from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the Collegeville Institute, and Georgetown University’s Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. Recent poems and essays can be found in Best New Poets, Poetry Daily, and the Kenyon Review.
