Poetry
In working to advance its mission to “promote the study of the world’s religions in their classical and contemporary forms,” the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) has focused on the intersections of poetry, philosophy, and religion.
Since 2017, Sherah Bloor, CSWR resident fellow, host of the poetry series, and editor-in-chief of Peripheries, has played an instrumental role in addressing the Center’s focus on poetry through programming and resources, in addition to offering a creative venue for HDS poets. Poetry Series initiatives can be viewed as a three-legged stool; talks and workshops with visiting poets, in-house poetry workshops, and the publication Peripheries.
Poetry at the CSWR: Events and News
Sherah Bloor: Poetry, Philosophy, Religion, and Community
Residents at the CSWR are scholars deeply committed to the study of religion. Below, we spoke with Sherah Bloor, a PhD student in the Study of Religion, on her work in poetry, philosophy, religion, and community. CSWR: How has being a resident at the...
Video: Concordance: An Evening with Susan Howe
Award-winning American poet Susan Howe visited Harvard Divinity School on April 24 to speak about the binding together of freedom and law, spontaneity and habit, as occasions for awakening a reader to the exaltation of spirit in process. Crossing the...
Video: The Song Within Thinking Outwardly: Navajo Thought and Poetry
In Navajo worldview, thought creates the world, which is then spoken into being. This process places sacred value on the power of language. Sherwin Bitsui’s poetry attempts to connect Diné thought to a changed world by translating the present through an...
Video: Dharma Gaze: Practices of Buddhism and Poetry--An Evening with Anne Waldman
“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” —from the Heart Sutra Based on personal study and experience, Anne Waldman speaks on the refuge and Bodhisattva vows, the Six Realms of Existence, “co-emergent wisdom” and a parallel vow to poetry, and the joys and...
Boarding the Voyage: The Archive as Altar, Research as Ritual--An Evening with Robin Coste Lewis
Robin Coste Lewis, National Book Award winner and poet laureate of Los Angeles, will give a talk and reading at the inaugural event in the Poetry, Philosophy, and Religion series at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School...
Embodied Practices and Poetry
On March 8 th, Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) resident and MDiv candidate at Harvard Divinity School (HDS), Melissa Lago, gave a presentation entitled, “Embodied Practices and Poetry.” She began by sharing what led her to her interest in...
