Covenant Poet-In-Residence Points to "World of the Spirit"
“Christian students are people of the Book, of the Word, and communication is central to who we are,” said Siegel. “Writing, of course, is the foundation of any education, and learning to read and write poetry makes one sensitive to the most delicate nuances of expression. One is a better reader of all kinds of literature for having studied poetry, from legal documents to the haiku.”
Further, Siegel believes that writing can move Christians from the physical world to the spiritual world. “Poetry, like the other arts, creates a kind of perfection that can lift us out of ourselves into an experience of transcendence,” he said. “It points to the world of the spirit.”
Siegel is the author of nine books of poetry and fiction, and has received prizes and awards from Poetry, Prairie Schooner, America, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Siegel's fiction includes the award-winning Whalesong trilogy, which has been translated into several languages. Siegel received his BA from Wheaton College, his MA in writing from Johns Hopkins University, and his PhD in English literature from Harvard University.
“In poetry you're focusing intensely on language and something quite often inexpressible that you're trying to capture in a few words—in compressed language,” said Siegel. “I’ve written both poetry and fiction, and enjoyed both, but poetry is my passion and first love.”
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