Video: CSWR Poetry Series: A Reading by Jane Hirshfield

On January 29, 2026, the Center for the Study of World Religions welcomed acclaimed poet Jane Hirshfield for a memorable evening of poetry and reflection. One of the most esteemed poets writing today, Hirshfield is known for work that brings together ethical attention and a deeply contemplative vision of the world. The award-winning author of The Asking: New and Selected Poems and Ledger (Penguin Random House, 2025), she has also written influential essays on poetry’s capacity to illuminate experience. Join us for an evening with a writer who has shaped contemporary American poetry by reinventing devotional poetry.

JANE HIRSHFIELD’s poetry is praised as that of a “modern master” and “among the most important poetry in the world today.” She addresses pressing issues, spanning political, ecological, scientific, metaphysical, and personal themes, crises of the biosphere, questions of social justice, and quandaries of heart, mind, and spirit.

Her publications include The Asking (2023), The Beauty (National Book Award longlist, 2015), Given Sugar, Given Salt (NBCC finalist, 2001), and After (a 2006 best book). Her co-translated poetry book, The Heart of Haiku, was an Amazon Best Book, 2011.

Hirshfield has received fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller Foundation, NEA, and Academy of American Poets; served as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets; co-founded Poets For Science; and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

She taught at Stanford, UC Berkeley, Bennington College, and Queen’s University. Her work has been translated into over 15 languages and set to music by composers including John Adams and Philip Glass. Her TED-ED animated lesson on metaphor has over 1.5 million views.