Christianity
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I should have written this post about a fortnight ago, but in my defence I was really under the weather until last week. Anyway, I was interviewed on Radio Scotland’s “Sunday Morning with Tony Kearney” on 3 November. They got in touch after hearing about Quirk!, the group I’ve started for LGBTQ+ folk at the
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What’s this? Two posts in two days?! You might be forgiven for wondering whether there is good reason for this lack of parsimony, dear readers. And there is. For I was informed on Monday evening that my work has been shortlisted for the inaugural Marcella Althaus-Reid Spoken Word Theology Competition. The competition, an element of
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In September this year, I was part of a peace and reconcilation pilgrimage to Flodden, which was the Northumbria Community‘s contribution to the commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the battle of Flodden. We peace pilgrims took part in the service of solemn commemoration the day after the anniversary. My contribution to that included the
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A week tonight, I will be reading for Glendale Crossing Places in Wooler. This reading has been set up through Northumbria Community connections, and will take place at St. Cuthbert’s, 12 High Street, Wooler, Northumberland, NE71 6BY. It kicks off at 7:30 PM and entry is by donation. For more information, please contact Bill Eugster
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The first thing to say about Stephen Nelson’s new chapbook from the little red leaves textile series is simply how gorgeous an object it is. In this era of the mass produced, something so beautifully handmade — using old bedsheets and remnant fabric to construct the cover — is a rare joy indeed. This pamphlet
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What a week it has been! The retreat, the review and almost the revealing of the new book. And, to boot, the sun was blazing all day yesterday. I returned home on Sunday from the retreat tired and not exhausted but enriched. It felt like a significant weekend in ways that are hard to articulate
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This week, I’m busy preparing for a poetry retreat I’m leading at Nether Springs, the mother house of the Northumbria Community, this weekend coming (12 to 14 April). I’m excited about this because it’s the first extended opportunity I’ve had to put together poetry and spirituality. My previous visits to Nether Springs — always as
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Next week is Book Week Scotland, our first ever official national celebration of books and reading. I’m very pleased to be joining Edinburgh-based poets Rob A Mackenzie and Elspeth Murray and visiting Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama for a reading on the Thursday that week (29 November). I first met Pádraig when he led a retreat in
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Today is the anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer‘s execution in 1945 and the day that he is commemorated in the Northumbria Community‘s calendar of saints, so I’ve decided to break with my normal practice of not posting new poems on this blog and put up a piece in memory of him: X Cheer Friend of Both
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I wish you all the blessings of the Easter season — and none of the abdominal complaints that may accompany it! As has become all too customary on this blog, I also apologise for my absence. After celebrating being back in the saddle, I was knocked out of commission by a bout of tonsillitis, which
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Merry Christmas! I hope you’ve had a Christmas full of light, blessings and peace. I trust you haven’t eaten too much turkey (or whatever you dined on for Christmas day — some rather delicious pork in our case*). Equally well, I hope you’re not staring at a fridge full of leftovers for the next three
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Little did I know when I stepped on to the stage in Wigtown that it would lead to my appearing on Radio Scotland’s main Christmas morning broadcast. It just so happened that the producer of “Christmas Morning with Cathy MacDonald and Ricky Ross” was in the audience, not that I knew that until an e-mail
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Mark Burnhope enters the ranks of Salt Publishing this week when his debut pamphlet, The Snowboy, is published in the Salt Modern Voices series. Mark, an exciting young poet, will be popping by Tonguefire in August to talk about the pamphlet, poetry, disability and faith. Meanwhile, to whet your appetite in a slightly unorthodox fashion,
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The times and venues of my appearances at this year’s Greenbelt festival have just been confirmed. First up is a poetry workshop at 2 pm on Saturday 27 August in Crest. The workshop is entitled “Lines Home” and will probe the idea of home, tying into this year’s Greenbelt theme. That’s followed on Sunday 28
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It seems that the rapture will come, according to some people, on Saturday. So I thought I’d share with you all my predictions for the end of the world: It Comes to the Crunch When the people heard this was the last day of the world some headed home to pack their cameras and feed
Amy Jo Philip 