IMAGES OF MAINE
"Poetry is like a great pealing of bells: so that everyone takes notice. So that each one who does so listens for that which serves no purpose and would be falsified through compromise. And this holds for the most despairing poem, and even for a poem that is negative and maddening: it is a pealing of bells. In truth, there is no poem that is 'against' that is not at the same time, and to a greater extent, 'for': as an appeal to helpers in order to overcome, together, something unlivable. And therein lies the catharsis: in an ultimate faith in humanity, without which there could be no poetry."
-Hilde Domin, from my Introduction to The Wandering Radiance: Selected Poems of Hilde Domin, translated by Mark S. Burrows (now available from Green Linden Press)
* TWO HILDE DOMIN EVENTS on MAY 1--in person in the Boston area and via Zoom (both free and open to the public): noon at Brandeis University and 7 pm at Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Cambridge.
On Wednesday, May 1 (from 12 - 1 pm), I will be joined by Sarah Kafatou for two events: first, we will give a joint reading (from my The Wandering Radiance and her new collection, With My Shadow) at Brandeis University. For a free Webinar link, click here. That evening, we will give another reading at Grolier Poetry Bookstore in Cambridge, from 7 - 8 p.m. To register to attend in person, with a small donation, click here; to register for the free Zoom link, click here.
* RETREAT: THE GOSPEL OF LOVE: FINDING WHOLENESS IN FRAGMENTED TIMES WITH JULIAN OF NORWICH: Saturday, May 4, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, in West Hartford, CT. A day exploring the contemplative vision of Julian and the relevance of her conviction that "all shall be well" through the unfailing love of God; for more information and to register, click here.
*ONLINE EVENING EVENT: "ONED IN BLISS": Exploring the mystery of suffering and mercy with Julian of Norwich: Monday, May 13, 2024, 7 - 8:30 pm EST. More information and a link for registration forth, click here.
* A WEEK-LONG RETREAT AT THE IONA ABBEY: "GROUNDING OUR LIVES IN GOD AND CREATION": 1 - 7 JUNE 2024 (on the Island of Iona in Scotland); currently fully booked; for more information and to be added to the waitlist, click here. This is a week-long retreat on the marvelous island of Iona to explore what it means to ground our lives--in God and in creation. Orienting talks each morning on mystics, poets, and artists, with afternoon sessions on embodiment, with spacious time to wander the island and discover its beauties. Space is limited.
* "AND THE SONG REMAINS BEAUTIFUL": THE HEARTWORK OF LOVE & THE COURAGE TO CREATE IN BEAUTY": on-site retreat at Bonnevaux Retreat Centre in Marcay, France (near Poitiers): October 8 - 13, 2024. During this gathering we will join those “poets,” medieval and modern, who invite us to risk opening ourselves to beauty’s embrace: Hildegard, Meister Eckhart, and Julian of Norwich from the Middle Ages; Rainer Maria Rilke, Hilde Domin, SAID, and others among the “moderns.” For more information, and to book for this retreat, click here.
* "RILKE: A POET FOR OUR TIMES?" An evening exploring Rilke's spiritual vision in OXFORD (UK), Tuesday, October 15, 5:30 - 7 pm (BST). Why is it that the poems and writings of Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) have had such a strong and growing influence on readers since his death almost a century ago? Is this because of the alluring power of his voice as a poet? His ability to draw readers into the depths of what he simply called our “innerness”? The poignance of his urging that “you must change your life”? Join us to explore Rilke as a poet for our times, a visionary who insisted that ours is the work of “living the questions,” not seeking premature answers. The evening talk will explore a range of Rilke’s early poems before turning to his later Sonnets to Orpheus and Duino Elegies. For more information and to register, click here.
*********************************************************
* TO LISTEN TO MY RECENT CONVERSATION about my new books, The Wandering Radiance: Selected Poems of Hilde Domin and Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness and Light, WITH LISA DELAY ("SPARK MY MUSE" PODCAST), click here.
* * TO LISTEN TO THE RECENT "POETS CORNER" CONVERSATION (April 2, 2023) ON The Wandering Radiance, with Marion Tauschwitz, Christopher Nelson, and Hilary Davies, click here.
*** TO LISTEN TO THE RECENT PODCAST ("OUT OF THE FOG" WITH KAREN HAGER) FEATURING JON SWEENEY AND ME ON OUR NEW ECKHART BOOK, click here.
__________________________________________________________________________
NOW AVAILABLE:
;)
Published on March 1, 2023: the third of our Eckhart books, re-voicing the startling wisdom of Meister Eckhart in short, meditative poems. To preorder, click here.
What readers are saying about it:
"Sweeney and Burrows, in poems that are as elegant as they are scholarly, revoice Meister Eckhart’s grounding and expansive instructions to 'seek the light that shines / out of the darkness.'" —Pádraig Ó Tuama, poet and host of Poetry Unbound, from On Being Studios
"Meister Eckhart is one of the greatest of Christian mystics, but because of his depth he can be challenging to read. Jon M. Sweeney and Mark S. Burrows unlock the poetry in his words to allow his light to shine. What Coleman Barks has done for Rumi, they have done for Eckhart—making his insight accessible and his wisdom sing.” —Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism and Eternal Heart
* * * * * *
;)
Just published (April, 2023):
"Burrows has succeeded in carrying the radiant power of Domin's poems over to the shoreline of his native tongue. This is an enrichment for all who long to be stirred by the courage and resilience she embodied as a Jewish writer who said of herself, upon returning to Germany following decades in exile: 'I stepped out into the air, and it carried me.'" --Vera-Sabine Winkler, author of Leise Bekenntnisse. Die Bedeutung der Poesie für die Sprache der Liturgie am Beispiel von Hilde Domin
"These shimmering poems by Hilde Domin lodge in the heart and blaze in the mind as they trace the journey of a deep soul through exile and self-realization. I would recommend these vivid poems to anyone who ares about the transformative power of great poetry." --Jay Parini, poet, biographer, screen-writer, and author of Why Poetry Matters
This new translation marks the first full collection of Hilde Domin's poems in English; to order this volume directly from Green Linden Press, click here. For a short endorsement by CAConrad, click here.
A SAMPLE OF RECENT BOOKS
Mark S. Burrows, The Chance of Home. Poems (2018); to order, click here (Paraclete) or here (amazon.com).
Meister Eckhart's Book of Secrets, with Jon M. Sweeney (2019); to order, click here.
Meister Eckhart's Book of the Heart, with Jon M. Sweeney; poems revoicing the wisdom of Meister Eckhart; to order, click here.
Also available: revised paperback edition of Rainer Maria Rilke, Prayers of a Young Poet (Paraclete Press, 2016). Heralded by Bill Moyers as "a powerful alchemy of the heart." To order, click here.
SAID, 99 Psalms, translated by Mark S. Burrows (Paraclete Press, 2013); to order, click here.
The Paraclete Poetry Anthology. Selected and New Poems, 2015 - 2016, edited by Mark S. Burrows (2016). To oder, click here.