Scottish Religious Poetry

LINDEN BICKET is Lecturer in Literature and Religion at the University of Edinburgh. EMMA DYMOCK teaches classes in Celtic and Scottish studies at the University of Edinburgh and her specialist area of interest is modern Gaelic poetry.  ALISON JACK is Professor of Bible and Literature at the University of Edinburgh, a Church of Scotland minister and Creative Director of the New College Festival of Books and Belief

"The three editors of this new book have carried out their work of selection beautifully. Though not a Gaelic speaker myself I appreciate the presence of Gaelic poetry (with translations). For these poems catch the spirit of the anthology perfectly, as, in the words of the Introduction, ‘Gaelic religious poetry has often been a reflection of the changing social, cultural and political position of the language.’ In that process of change we find a Scotland that is at once timeless and yet forever restlessly shifting its identity, and in a manner that has the matter of religion at its very heart. These poems are a reflection of that deep subconsciousness that lies under the surface of Scottish culture and landscape - a ‘thin place’ where divinity and the everyday meet in gestures of infinite complexity. This is a book to be treasured - and taken very seriously indeed."