From the foreword: “I’ve never read a book like Word Made Fresh. And I’ve come to realize that it’s a book I’ve been seeking for most of my life. . . . Word Made Fresh is an introduction that stays with its reader beyond the moment of introduction to ensure that the reader can make a home with and in poetry. . . . When I was fifteen, poetry discovered me. And now I feel as if I know it for the first time.”
—Shane McCrae, Columbia University, author of Pulling the Chariot of the Sun and In the Language of My Captor
“What a brilliant, humane, intelligent, and necessary book. Abram Van Engen is an ideal guide through the art of poetry and has written that rare book that can speak to both the novice and the expert. Most importantly, Van Engen knows that poetry is 'equipment for living' and can be, for anyone willing to listen, a vital element of faith.”
—Christian Wiman, Yale Divinity School, author of Zero at the Bone and Every Riven Thing
“I’ve been waiting for someone to write this book. Sensitive to newcomers and even skeptics, Abram Van Engen is a warm, wise, generous guide into the manifold gifts poetry offers. A master teacher and thoughtful scholar, Van Engen writes as a fellow human, a pilgrim on the way with us, sharing his experiences with poetry to entice us to find our own. At once practical and existential, this book is a master class and a love letter. Like the Ancient Mariner, I will be grabbing people by the lapels and pressing this book into their hands: Here’s why poetry is the song you didn’t realize your heart wants to sing.”
—James K. A. Smith, Calvin University, author of You Are What You Love and How to Inhabit Time
“We need poetry more than ever. In our moment in history, words have often been rendered cheap, combative, and manipulative. But poetry calls us back to the beauty, depth, and power of careful, crafted words. A gifted teacher and writer, Abram Van Engen is a deft guide for those new to poetry and those who have enjoyed it for decades. His vital exploration and expert curation of great poems rejuvenates our imagination, giving us new eyes to notice our own lives—with all the joy and pain they hold and hide—and to glimpse God’s work in and among us. I will return to this luminescent book again and again.”
—Tish Harrison Warren, author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night
“This is a book to savor. With total understanding of our wariness, Van Engen graciously ushers us into the world of poetry and makes us feel at home there. Like the tone of a concert cellist, his writing has both core and sheen: it’s perfectly clear and it’s also wonderfully evocative. This book is a sheer pleasure.”
—Cornelius Plantinga, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, author of Morning and Evening Prayers
“Why does God keep making poets? Because the church needs to wonder anew at God’s daily graces! Abram Van Engen gifts readers with a practical guide both for those who fear verse (that they will see how simple and lovely poems are), as well as for those who have never lost their delight in the grandeur of poetry. Within these pages, through the diverse assortment of spiritually thick poems that Van Engen chooses alongside his personal and clear explications, readers may taste freshly the joy of the Lord.”
—Jessica Hooten Wilson, Pepperdine University, author of Reading for the Love of God and The Scandal of Holiness
“It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book so eagerly, with so many points of resonance and shared pleasure. Word Made Fresh follows through with the title’s promise, reminding me anew what a miraculous thing a poem can be. Ironically, as a career songwriter it took me a long time to realize it—how these unadorned words on a page, resting there in silence without the aid of a melody or a chord progression, can wake up and take residence in us when breathed to life on our lips. But once it happened—for me it was “God’s Grandeur,” by Hopkins—I was changed forever. That poem is still rambling around in the chambers of my heart, along with many others. I wish I could have read this book and discovered the wonder of poetry years earlier, but I’m so glad we have it now as a winsome, wise guide into the vast library of poems and poets that might come to life and change you, too.”
—Andrew Peterson, singer-songwriter, founder of The Rabbit Room, author of The God of the Garden
