Eleven different poetry collections reviewed by four America editors offer a sample of the God-haunted and the God-hunted contemporary literary artists who work out their spiritual, intellectual and emotional conundrums through lyrical compositions.

Something has changed for the novelist John Banville in the last 15 years. In a twist worthy of his own byzantine fiction, Banville has adopted a new persona and writing style, and even—perhaps—a changed attitude toward “the Irish thing” he once derided.

In this time when so much seems to be falling apart, the writer/philosopher/farmer Michael Martin is reimagining and even building anew.

Marooned in his home in Connecticut much of last year, unable to tour or even safely hang out with his band, he sat in his home studio and put together a list of favorite church music, from “Amazing Grace” to 1970s-era Catholic folk Mass tunes to modern gospel songs. 

For Kavanaugh, the only true response to our consumer culture is the life of Christ: inviting, healing, self-sacrificing, loving.

I believe that because the people about whom I am writing share with me a vocabulary, a set of images and shared practices, there are some firm grounds on which we can all stand.