Pádraig Ó Tuama

An immersive collection of poetry to open your world, curated by the host of Poetry Unbound This inspiring collection, edited by Pádraig Ó Tuama, presents fifty poems about what it means to be alive in the world today. Each poem is paired with Pádraig’s illuminating commentary that offers personal anecdotes and generous insights into the content of the poem. Engaging, accessible and inviting, Poetry Unbound is the perfect companion for everyone who loves poetry and for anyone who wants to go deeper into poetry but doesn’t necessarily know how to do so. Poetry Unbound contains expanded reflections on poems as heard on the podcast, as well as exclusive new selections. Contributors include Hanif Abdurraqib, Patience Agbabi, Raymond Antrobus, Margaret Atwood, Ada Limón, Kei Miller, Roger Robinson, Lemn Sissay, Layli Long Soldier and more.

50 Poems to Open Your World

Poetry Unbound

One of the most engaging voices contemporary spirituality in is that of the Irish poet, Pádraig O'Tuama. This second poetry collection arises out of a decade of his hearing stories of people who have lived through personal and political conflict in Northern Ireland, the Middle East and other places of conflict. These poems tell stories of individuals who have lived through conflict: their loves and losses, their hope and generosity. One poem, 'Shaking hands' was written when Pádraig witnessed the historic handshake between Queen Elizabeth II and Martin McGuinness, who has since used the poem publicly. The phrase 'Sorry for your troubles' is used all over Ireland. It comes directly from an Irish phrase, yet Irish has no word for 'bereavement' - the word used is 'troiblóid'. So the phrase would be better translated 'Sorry for your bereavements'. With this in mind, this new book speaks evocatively about a time when thousands of people lost their lives and many thousands more lived through the searing pain of grief.

Sorry for Your Troubles

Jeanette Winterson

Amrou Al-Kadhi

Dustin Lance Black

Jay Hulme

Erin Clark

Jarel Robinson-Brown

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah

Tamsin Omond

Keith Jarrett

Mpho Tutu van Furth

John L. Bell

Ruth Hunt (editor)

Rev. Winnie Varghese

Lucy Knight

Michael Segalov

Karl Rutlidge

Garry Rutter

Rev Rachel Mann

Judith Kotze

Jack Guiness

Ric Stott

Is it possible to believe in God and be gay? How does it feel to be excluded from a religious community because of your sexuality? Why do some people still believe being LGBT is a sin?

The book of Queer Prophets contains modern-day epistles from some of our most important thinkers, writers and activists: Jeanette Winterson tackles religious dogma, Amrou Al-Kadhi writes about trying to make it as a Muslim drag queen in London, John Bell writes about his decision to come out later in life, Tamsin Omond remembers getting married in the middle of a protest and Kate Bottley explains her journey to becoming an LGBT ally.

Essays from: Jeanette Winterson, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Pádraig Ó Tuama, Rev. Winnie Varghese, Keith Jarrett, Jay Hulme, Lucy Knight, Tamsin Omond, Erin Clark, Michael Segalov, Jarel Robinson-Brown, John L. Bell, Mpho Tutu van Furth, Karl Rutlidge, Garry Rutter, Rev Rachel Mann, Judith Kotze, Jack Guiness, Dustin Lance Black, Ric Stott. Afterword: Kate Bottley

21 Writers on Sexuality and Religion

The Book of Queer Prophets

Pádraig Ó Tuama’s Kitchen Hymns opens with a question: “Do You Believe in God?” — but the bee, “gone extinct,” cannot answer, and the grass calls believe “a poor verb.” This collection trades belief for language, and philosophy is grounded in form and narrative. Kitchen Hymns is structured like a ghost mass, where even if God is a “favorite emptiness,” longing still has things to say: Jesus and Persephone meet at Hell’s exit and discuss survival; someone believes more in birds than belief; hares carry messages from the overworld to the underworld. A study in lyric address, Kitchen Hymns speaks to a shifting “you”: an unknown you; the strange you; a lover, a hated other; the you of erotic desire; the you of creation and destruction. Large themes are informed by and contained in a poetics of observation, humor, trauma, dialogics, lament, rage and praise. Delivered in finely honed melodies, shaped with force and conviction, Kitchen Hymns “reckon[s] with the empty,” and becomes “busy with a body / not a question.”

Kitchen Hymns

A Poetry Unbound Collection

44 Poems on Being With Each Oghdf

Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community

A leading poet and a theologian reflect on the Old Testament story of Ruth, a tale that resonates deeply in today's world with its themes of migration, the stranger, mixed cultures and religions, law and leadership, women in public life, kindness, generosity and fear. Ruth's story speaks directly to many of the issues and deep differences that Brexit has exposed and to the polarisation taking place in many societies. Pádraig Ó Tuama and Glenn Jordan bring the redemptive power of Ruth to bear on today's seemingly intractable social and political divisions, reflecting on its challenges and how it can help us be effective in the public square, amplify voices which are silenced, and be communities of faith in our present day. Over the last year, the material that inspired this book has been used with over 6000 people as a public theology initiative from Corrymeela, Ireland's longest-established peace and reconciliation centre. It has been met with an overwhelming response because of its immediacy and relevance, enabling people with opposing views to come together and be heard.

The Book of Ruth: A story for our times

Borders and Belonging

Hello to here. Hello to the name of here. What is the name for the place where you now are? To name a place requires us to be in a place. It requires close looking; it requires the dedication of observation and the commitment to truth. It requires us to resist dreaming of where we should be, and look around where we are. In this book of contemplation, poet, storyteller and theologian Padraig O Tuama relates ideas of shelter to journeys of life, opening up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world. Drawing inspiration from the Irish saying 'It is the shelter of each other that the people live', it also reflects on Jesus' simple greeting to his disciples on Easter Sunday, as described in the fourth gospel, as it invites us into a place of deep encounter with ourselves, our fears, each other and the sense of divinity embodied in a simple word: 'Hello'. Interweaving everyday stories with narrative theology, gospel reflections with mindfulness, and Celtic spirituality with poetry, In The Shelter reveals the transformational power of welcome.

In The Shelter

Expanding on the popular podcast of the same name from On Being Studios, Poetry Unbound offers immersive reflections on fifty powerful poems.

Feed the Beast by Pádraig Ó Tuama features poems which meditate on sexuality and religion. This breathtaking book charts the landscape into-and out of-the world of "gay cure" and reparative therapy. Having undergone treatments, therapies, and exorcisms for gagging the gay in him, Pádraig Ó Tuama pushes past gods and devils and searches for language that might offer safety. At the core of this collection is a breathtaking erasure poem written in response to the Vatican's statement on the blessing of same-sex unions. With dexterous use of form and voice, Feed the Beast explores registers of rage and resilience. Whether in parable, narrative or song, whether in tenderness or fear, the reader encounters poems that are honed, necessary and-finally-hopeful.

Feed the Beast

Pat Bennett

Created by Pádraig Ó Tuama five years ago, the Spirituality of Conflict website is one of the most exciting and vibrant online lectionary resources. For each Sunday there is an extended reflection, a prayer, and questions for lectio divina or group discussion. Featuring Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and Pentecostal writers from Corrymeela, the Iona Community, Holy Island, Coventry Cathedral’s Centre for Reconciliation, the Church of Scotland and elsewhere, it reflects the broad nature of the witness to peace. Approaching conflict in its various forms - personal, social, global - through the lens of the gospels, conflict, it explores the conflicted nature of Jesus’ world and how people navigated routes through it. It enables the scriptures to speak to the conflicts in our lives and reveals how they can have positive as well as negative outcomes. This volume of collected material focuses on the beginning and the end of Jesus’ human life and covers the gospels for Advent, Christmas. Lent, Holy Week and Easter.

Gospel Reflections for Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter

What Were You Arguing About Along The Way?

From master storyteller and host of On Being's Poetry Unbound, Pádraig Ó Tuama, comes an unforgettable memoir of peace and reconciliation, Celtic spirituality, belonging, and sexual identity. "It is in the shelter of each other that the people live." Drawing on this Irish saying, Ó Tuama relates ideas of shelter and welcome to our journeys of life, using poetry, story, biblical reflection, and prose to open up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world. In the Shelter introduces Corrymeela, the Northern Ireland peace and reconciliation community Ó Tuama led for many years, and throughout the book he reveals the power of storytelling in communities of conflict. From the heart of a poet comes a profound look at the landscapes we all try to inhabit even as we always search for shelter, a place we can call home. An instant spiritual classic in Ireland and Britain, now brought to a US readership.

Finding a Home in the World

In the Shelter

Glenn Jordan

One of the most intriguing and engaging voices in contemporary Christianity is that of the Irish poet, Pádraig Ó Tuama and this is his first, long-awaited poetry collection. Hailing from the Ikon community in Belfast and working closely with its founder, the bestselling writer Pete Rollins, Pádraig’s poetry interweaves parable, poetry, art, activism and philosophy into an original and striking expression of faith. Pádraig’s poems are accessible, memorable profound and challenging. They emerge powerfully from a context of struggle and conflict and yet are filled with hope.

Pádraig Ó Tuama

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