The expression of doubt can be a refreshing alternative to most contemporary poets’ disregard for issues of faith. For Christian Wiman, doubt has not quite solidified into unbelief, which means his ...

Poet and professor of divinity Christian Wiman says that there are all kinds of poems he’s turned to during this pandemic. He especially enjoys poems that are joyful and have helped him perceive the ...

Simone Weil says in a passage quoted in this anthology, “A test of what is real is that it is hard and rough. Joys are found in it.” Using Weil’s definition, this is the most real collection of poetry ...

Nearly two decades ago, the poet Christian Wiman was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. Doctors told Wiman, who was 39 at the time, that he likely had five years to live. In the ensuing 19 years, ...

If you have ever been in the enviable position of considering the difference between happiness and joy, you might find yourself nodding when the latter is characterized as being wilder and more ...

Poet Christian Wiman helps us tune our ears to silence, so God’s voice won’t be lost in the noise. You’re not that interested in art? Poetry isn’t really your thing? Your stack of books to read is ...

Christian Wiman, recently appointed as the Clement-Muehl Professor of Communication Arts, is a poet and educator who focuses his research on the language of faith, “accidental” theology (that is, ...

Purchase this and other timeless New Criterion essays in our hard-copy reprint series. Christian wiman: I guess it is to some extent. I definitely had a sense that there were poets I had encountered ...

Christian Wiman, who was editor of Poetry magazine at the time, shares this story in his book He Held Radical Light. He had previously been unimpressed with Oliver: Overrated. Poems too “transactional ...

“To say that I was not equipped for this task is comically understated,” Wiman reflects. He was never comfortable with the significant bureaucratic elements of the position. In 2013 he left the ...