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question, praising the craftsmanship of the poems in such terms as make it clear that this is not ‘important’ poetry. The hardcore version of this argument goes something like this: because our experience of the world is chaotic and fragmented, and because we’ve lost our faith not only in those abstractions by means of which men and women of the past ordered their lives but also in language itself, it would be naïve to think that we could have such order in our art. A poet who persists in imposing order upon our uncertainty is either unconscious, ironic, or irrelevant.
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Wiman's poetry is characterized by multiple possible and intended readings, and metaphors which either are derived from an absence or space or undergo an evolution throughout the poem. One technique Wiman uses to communicate dual intended readings, is through repetition and scrupulous variation of
154:
describes Wiman's poems as being “insistent on being read aloud, in a way that so much from
America is determined not to be. His rhymes and line-turnovers are all carefully placed to intensify the speech rhythms, making everything dramatic: not shoutingly so, but with a steady voice that tells an
171:
Many poets and critics now almost automatically distrust any work that exhibits formal coherence, stylistic finish, and closure. Occasionally they simply dismiss such work as naive or reactionary. At other times, and probably more damagingly, they either subtly devalue or patronize the work in
122:
in
Guatemala, recalling violent episodes from the poet's youth, traveling in Africa with an eccentric father, as well as a series of penetrating essays on poets, poetry, and poetry's place in our lives. The book’s final essay discusses Wiman's diagnosis of
197:
punctuation and line-breaks. Thematic preoccupations of Wiman's poetry include the absence of God and difficulties and necessities of encountering the world whether with faith or without. Omar
Sabbagh compares Wiman to
188:
wrote, "if Wiman is a formalist, he's the kind who ditches the grandiose". Wiman's poetry takes its reference points from lived experience rather than from any literary tradition. Of his own taste, Wiman writes in
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Though Wiman does at times write in free verse, a significant enough portion of his work is written with some measure of form for him to have been associated at times with movements of
205:
saying "Whether we call it 'affliction', 'the void', or what have you, these
Christian thinkers were eminently modernist in seeing God, not as necessity, but as 'contingency'."
193:"more and more what I want from the poetry I read is some density of experience, some sense that a whole life is being brought to bear both on and in language".
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Part memoir, part statement of
Christian faith, part commonplace book, this slim volume of spiritual and literary meditations unsettles more than it soothes.
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Sabbagh, Omar (Summer–Autumn 2015). "Only
Plenitude at The Void: The Sacred Music in Christian Wiman's Every Riven Thing".
43:
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216:, but in an interview on his own influences, Wiman said, "for sheer sound, though, I'd give more credit—or blame—to
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Video interview: "Bill Moyers & Company" > February 2012 > "An
Interview with poet Christian Wiman"
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636:
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Major critics and Wiman himself, however, have distinguished his work from neo-formalism. David
Biespeil in
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374:
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103:, 2010), was chosen by poet and critic Dan Chiasson as one of the best poetry books of 2010. His book
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is "a collection of personal essays and critical prose on a wide range of subjects: reading
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838:
Biespeil, David (July 2017). "Legible
Horizon: Christian Wiman's Hammer is the Prayer".
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140:
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901:
Dominic, Anthony (2014). "Being
Prepared for Joy: An Interview with Christian Wiman".
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947:"Austin Community College announces the winner of the 2014 Balcones Poetry Prize"
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His poems, criticism, and personal essays appear widely in such magazines as
917:"National Book Critics Circle Announces Finalists for Publishing Year 2014"
167:. On the topic of form, Wiman wrote in an essay called “An Idea of Order”:
68:, a role he stepped down from in June 2013. Wiman is now on the faculty of
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478:
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62:. In 2003, he became editor of the oldest American magazine of verse,
640:
23:
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He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, the Faith of Art
72:, where he teaches courses on Religion and Literature at
1032:> July 2009 > Artist of the Month: Christian Wiman
980:"Faith healing : a poet confronts illness and God"
328:
252:
859:
My bright abyss : meditation of a modern believer
483:
New Voices: Contemporary Poetry from the United States
438:(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), poetry, 112 pages,
423:(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016), poetry, 224 pages,
408:(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), poetry, 128 pages,
393:(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), poetry, 112 pages,
208:Wiman's poetry has been compared stylistically to
457:Stolen Air: The Selected Poems of Osip Mandelstam
986:. Vol. 89, no. 12. pp. 80, 81–83.
521:My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer
294:2014 Balcones Fiction Prize (Poetry) winner for
534:Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair
378:(Copper Canyon Press, 2005), poetry, 96 pages,
363:(Copper Canyon Press, 1998), poetry, 96 pages,
169:
302:Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry
8:
815:Ambition and survival : becoming a poet
861:(1st ed.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
552:
550:
87:(Story Line Press, 1997) and reprinted by
740:"An Interview With Poet Christian Wiman"
560:(April 19, 2013). "Cries And Whispers".
546:
1043:An Interview with Poet Christian Wiman
511:Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet
178:Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet
105:Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet
22:(born August 31, 1966) is an American
788:> Guest Poet > Christian Wiman"
7:
1105:Washington and Lee University alumni
663:"Faculty: Institute of Sacred Music"
420:Hammer Is The Prayer: Selected Poems
16:American poet and editor (born 1966)
537:(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2023)
923:. January 19, 2015. Archived from
688:"Eleven Best Poetry Books of 2010"
286:National Book Critics Circle Award
139:, The New York Times Book Review,
14:
1075:American male non-fiction writers
1022:An Interview with Christian Wiman
639:. Yale University. Archived from
529:(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018)
523:(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013)
460:(Ecco, 2012), poetry, 128 pages,
272:2010 Commonwealth Prize from the
315:
239:
713:Tucker, Ken (October 7, 2007).
114:The New York Times Book Review
78:Yale Institute of Sacred Music
1:
159:Literary style and influences
44:Washington and Lee University
1110:Yale Divinity School faculty
921:National Book Critics Circle
472:Anthologies (as contributor)
26:, translator and editor.
1126:
591:. Masthead. Archived from
83:His first book of poetry,
60:Prague School of Economics
1070:American magazine editors
1041:> August 7, 2007 >
857:Wiman, Christian (2013).
813:Christian, Wiman (2007).
155:ideal story every time.”
101:Farrar, Straus and Giroux
1085:Harper's Magazine people
951:Austin Community College
728:– via NYTimes.com.
817:. Copper Canyon Press.
563:The Wall Street Journal
48:Northwestern University
982:. The Critics. Books.
840:American Poetry Review
566:(paper). p. A13.
288:(Poetry) finalist for
274:English Speaking Union
186:American Poetry Review
182:
95:Prize. His 2010 book,
1090:The New Yorker people
1020:> March 2009 >
280:Guggenheim Fellowship
191:Ambition and Survival
329:adding missing items
253:adding missing items
111:, 2007) reviewed by
74:Yale Divinity School
42:, he graduated from
34:Raised in the small
1095:Poets from Illinois
1080:American male poets
1039:Poets & Writers
1007:> Issue 32 >
1005:The Cortland Review
927:on January 22, 2015
744:Poets & Writers
617:. Poetry Foundation
515:Copper Canyon Press
435:Survival Is A Style
109:Copper Canyon Press
89:Copper Canyon Press
52:Stanford University
1011:by Christian Wiman
758:"Five Houses Down"
719:The New York Times
715:"A Formal Feeling"
694:. December 6, 2010
327:; you can help by
251:; you can help by
147:The Sewanee Review
46:and has taught at
868:978-0-374-53437-0
824:978-1-55659-260-7
794:on April 21, 2012
746:. August 7, 2007.
643:on 6 October 2014
637:"Christian Wiman"
615:"Christian Wiman"
595:on April 23, 2013
589:Poetry Foundation
496:978-0-9544257-9-1
466:978-0-06-209942-6
444:978-0-374-53933-7
429:978-0-374-53731-9
414:978-0-374-53570-4
399:978-0-374-53306-9
390:Every Riven Thing
384:978-1-55659-220-1
369:978-1-55659-269-0
345:
344:
269:
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232:Awards and honors
125:macroglobulinemia
97:Every Riven Thing
56:Lynchburg College
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1100:Poets from Texas
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91:(2007), won the
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978:(May 6, 2013).
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323:This list is
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247:This list is
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218:Basil Bunting
215:
214:Geoffrey Hill
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593:the original
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558:Yezzi, David
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450:Translations
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308:Bibliography
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260:January 2015
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1060:1966 births
1037:Interview:
1016:Interview:
931:January 29,
890:(2): 72–75.
846:(4): 15–18.
798:October 27,
768:December 5,
724:December 5,
698:December 5,
672:November 5,
487:Irish Pages
353:Collections
199:Simone Weil
152:Clive James
1054:Categories
903:Commonweal
542:References
375:Hard Night
336:March 2024
325:incomplete
249:incomplete
58:, and the
36:West Texas
1028:Feature:
957:April 18,
647:4 October
599:April 19,
585:Magazine"
30:Biography
1018:Bookslut
1009:Interior
905:(8): 11.
479:H.L. Hix
175:—
76:and the
38:town of
1003:Audio:
621:July 1,
581:"About
517:, 2007)
884:Agenda
865:
821:
583:Poetry
493:
464:
442:
427:
412:
397:
382:
367:
348:Poetry
224:, and
65:Poetry
40:Snyder
1030:Image
505:Prose
300:2016
284:2014
278:2012
959:2020
933:2015
863:ISBN
819:ISBN
800:2009
770:2021
726:2021
700:2021
674:2021
649:2014
623:2013
601:2013
491:ISBN
462:ISBN
440:ISBN
425:ISBN
410:ISBN
395:ISBN
380:ISBN
365:ISBN
212:and
201:and
144:and
24:poet
331:.
255:.
228:".
1056::
949:.
919:.
888:49
886:.
844:64
842:.
760:.
742:.
717:.
690:.
665:.
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549:^
489:.
485:.
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135:,
80:.
54:,
50:,
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935:.
871:.
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802:.
784:"
772:.
702:.
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603:.
513:(
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334:(
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107:(
99:(
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