Words Against Despair with Christian Wiman
As poet Christian Wiman explains on our podcast, despair is part of the human condition: “I deal with despair because…I don't know how not to, and it would be an evasion not to. And I think if you don't feel it, then you're not paying attention.”
In his new book,
Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair, the acclaimed poet chases meaning through words, including memoir and poetry. And in this conversation he explains how he has found relief from despair in poetry, even and especially when poets grapple honestly with despair, “they speak of [despair] as a thing that can be spoken of.”
Wiman returned to Christian faith in part through a terminal cancer diagnosis–one that he has, to his astonishment, now lived with for over 18 years. His work explores themes of illness, love, faith, and the “almost spiritual joy” of encountering a deadly coral snake. We trust you will find in his poetry, and in this conversation with Trinity Forum’s guest host, Tom Wash, a great tonic against despair.
This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in April 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation
here, and learn more about
Christian Wiman.
Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:
Marylin Robison
Danielle Chapman
William Bronk
William Wordsworth
Augustine of Hippo
Richard Wilbur
Jürgen Moltmann
Related Trinity Forum Readings: