Edited by Ilya Kaminsky and Katherine Towler

In A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith, Ilya Kaminsky and Katherine Towler bring together nineteen of America’s leading poets in a collection of conversations about spirituality and the craft of writing. Reflecting on their diverse experiences, writers of various religious backgrounds offer frank, thoughtful consideration of subject matter too often polarized and politicized in our society. Contributors include poets who are Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, and Pagan, among them Kazim Ali, Jane Hirshfield, Li-Young Lee, Gerald Stern, Carolyn Forché, and the late Grace Paley.

Praise for A God in the House

“An incandescent collection of essays, superbly edited, radiant with wisdom, demonstrating the great truth that all poetry, all art, all human endeavor finds its fulfillment in service to something higher than itself… Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, unaffiliated, non-religious: the contributors… unite in awe before the mystery of being. This is a noble and life-giving book.” — Philip Zaleski, editor of the annual Best Spiritual Writing volumes and co-author of Prayer: A History

“The intimate relationship between poetry and prayer, explored anew in this wide-ranging collection of interviews, animates some of our most vital writing. These poets are wonderful guides to the endlessly changing terrain of spiritual practice… ” — Christopher Merrill, author of Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain