By Kimberley Heatherington, OSV News
(OSV News) — “A poet’s worldview and beliefs influence everything he or she writes. Sometimes, those beliefs are stated in poetry — but they’re always implied one way or another,” said poet and writer Dana Gioia, a former California Poet Laureate.
“Catholicism is my faith and my worldview, and from the very beginning, it has been evident in my work — even though most of my poems are not explicitly religious,” he said.
Ahead of World Poetry Day March 21, OSV News talked with Gioia and other contemporary poets who are also practicing Catholics to hear their thoughts on their vocation and the challenge of creating verse in our own era.
“Poetry is the most concise, expressive, and memorable way that human beings use language,” said Gioia, who has served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “And for that reason, it will never go out of date as long as people still use words to speak. But the cultural role of the poet changes a bit from period to period.”
With literature emerging from a phase of modernism and experimentation, Gioia said he finds the present to be an interesting time to be writing. His most recent volume, “Poetry as Enchantment: And Other Essays” (Paul Dry Books), explores poetry in a very different way than it is usually taught, he said, by relating it directly to emotions, imagination, memory and the physical senses.
He said he does not write devotional poetry per se, “although, as I have gotten older, I have probably written more poems that openly deal with matters of faith. A writer who is honestly writing out of his or her own self has to express the beliefs that are at the center of that self.”
British poet and writer Sally Read, a former atheist and psychiatric nurse, shared a similar view.
“It tends to be problematic calling poets ‘Catholic poets,'” said Read, who is also the editor of “100 Great Catholic Poems” (Word on Fire). “For any artist — whatever medium you’re in — I think you have to do your best to produce the best art possible. And then, if you are truly Catholic, that’s going to radiate through the art in any case.”
That said, Read found she has “become a very, kind of religious writer.”
The first post-conversion book of poetry she wrote traced the life of Christ; yet even before she became Catholic, she took up religious subjects such the Virgin Mary and the Annunciation.
“Solve that one if you can,” Read invited, with a laugh in her voice.
“But,” she cautioned, “that’s not to say that one day I won’t write a book that’s got nothing to do with religion, because it just depends what I feel called to do.”
That calling is different for every poet, said poet Ryan Wilson, co-editor of “Contemporary Catholic Poetry: An Anthology” (Paraclete Press).
“We’re not called to be all alike. And in fact, the calling for each poem is different. Poems aren’t meant to be all alike,” said Wilson, a native of Macon, Georgia. “So, I think that what it means to be called to be a poet in our time is going to be different for every single poet.”
For Wilson, “it entails following the path that God intends for us.”
“For any poet — as for any Christian, and certainly any Catholic — we have to discern what God wants us to do, and follow that path,” he added. “And so the vocation of the poet I don’t think is different from any other vocation, except that instead of building cabinets or doing auto repairs, we’re making poems.”
All three poets felt that to encourage artistic imagination in others and in the church, there is a shared responsibility between creators and those who hope to create — or just to appreciate.
To that end, more than a decade ago, Gioia created a Catholic Imagination Conference.
“Our challenge is very simple,” said Gioia. “Catholic writers, musicians and artists need to take the lead in restoring Catholic arts both to the church and to society.”
Poetry, he said, “remains an essential artistic discipline for the church because it allows the mysteries of the faith to be expressed in the most beautiful and memorable language possible.”
With respect to writing, Read had an uncomplicated suggestion.
“I think the first thing to do is to get people to read more, because the way that you can learn to write is to read,” she said.
Wilson agreed.
“We need not just Catholic writers,” he said. “We need Catholic readers who are going to read Catholic writers. We need Catholic editors. We need a culture that is active in the arts. The way to encourage Catholic writing is to have Catholic readers.”
Kimberley Heatherington writes for OSV News from Virginia.
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