For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Eihei Dōgen Zenji—the Japanese founder of what remains one of the most vital sects within Zen Buddhism, the Sōtō school—wrote the Sansui kyō, the “Mountains and Rivers Sutra” at his Kyoto monastery Kōshōhōrin-ji in the autumn of 1240. A poetic rumination on the foundational co-dependence within all of nature, this sutra has long been … Read more
[ad_1] Upon initial inspection, the title of Rosanna Warren’s latest collection of poetry, So Forth, might seem like the self-deprecating wave of a too-weary hand: I’ve published for some time now. And I have these new poems, if you care to read them. The recipient of numerous literary honors, a former Academy of American Poets … Read more
[ad_1] Megan Campisi’s novel Sin Eater introduces us to an alternate universe, one reminiscent in many ways of Tudor England, in which certain food items are eaten for the symbolic absolution of a dying person’s sins (a practice not unknown to past Christian communities). For example, pickled cucumber for idleness, roast pigeon for thieving, a rabbit’s heart … Read more
[ad_1] It’s a dream many of us have had. Stepping through the gauzy curtains of the subconscious, we emerge in an unfamiliar place — a school, a restaurant, a church we’ve never attended — and, after an apprehensive look around, are approached by a strange person who calls us by name. Cue dread, perhaps even … Read more
[ad_1] At the beginning of his latest collection of poetry, Survival Is A Style, Christian Wiman lays out the territory that serves as the setting for his verse, a less-than-concrete fabric he deftly fingers throughout: “I need a space for unbelief to breathe.” This God-spaced hole hangs heavily over Wiman’s oeuvre. In this new collection, … Read more