Gracewing – förlag

Born in 1907 Nakahara Chuya was one of the most gifted andcolourful of Japan’s early modern poets. A bohemian romantic,his death at the early age of thirty, coupled with the delicacy of hisimagery, have led to him being compared to the greatest of French symbolist poets.

Since the Second World War Nakahara’s stature has risen, and hispoetry is now ranked among the finest Japanese verse of the 20thcentury. Influenced by both Symbolism and Dada, he createdlyrics renowned for their songlike eloquence, their personalimagery and their poignant charm.This selection of poems from throughout Nakahara’s creative lifeincludes collected and uncollected work and draws on recentscholarship to give a full account of this extraordinary figure.

'And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory'

(John 1.14)

 In Christian icons people can behold the face of the Word become flesh and the faces of his saints. This is an encounter with divine beauty, an encounter which is a profound mystery and yet one whose depths are better appreciated through the written word of the Church's theology. Such knowledge is especially useful in the Western world, where interest in icons is experiencing such a revival.

Face to Face provides a unique and concise introduction to the Orthodox Church's theology of the icon. Written both for the general reader and, with its plentiful references, for scholars seeking further avenues of exploration, the book covers the essential areas of the icon's theology from its Scriptural basis, through the writings of the saints who defended the icon against the Byzantine iconoclasts, right up to some of the most recent scholarship. It discusses current areas of interest, including the relationship between the icon's form and its theology, how icons are used, and the reception by the Western world of the Byzantine icon tradition.  It is written with the authority of an author who has been a professional iconographer for over forty years.