Reading Todd Davis’s gorgeous poems, you can’t help but feel that the capacities of human vision, and also our appetite for exactly this way of seeing and naming have been mysteriously, precisely increased. – Jane Hirshfield The poems of Todd Davis sharpen a reader’s spirit and focus, on the bloodstained teeth breaking apart the day-to-day doldrums and on the mythic imagination necessary to bear witness to this daunting moment in our species, on our planet. Todd Davis and I spoke back in 2019 about his book Native Species and he has read his poems in the last two years on …
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Contemplative Gleanings from the Hermits of Big Sur with Paula Huston
Absolutely fascinating, gorgeously written, frequently brilliant. In her story of how an ancient monastic order found a home in California, and how the author found a home with them, Paula Huston offers us an invitation into a world that few see, but all will want to experience. – James Martin, SJ Paula Huston has written a book, The Hermits of the Big Sur, that charts the history of the New Camaldoli Hermitage. A history born amidst Vatican II and World War II with even deeper contemplatives roots back to the 11th century in the mountains of Italy. Paula follows the …
Bill Porter (Red Pine) on Zen and Taoist Masters, Mountain Hermits, & the Life of a Translator
“Bill Porter has been one of the most prolific translators of Chinese texts, while also developing into a travel writer with a cult following.” —New York Times (The audio is shaky between ~ 2m30s – 5m. Apologies for that. I owe you a high five) Bill Porter (Red Pine) on Zen and Taoist Masters, Mountain Hermits, & the Life of a Translator Bill Porter, aka Red Pine, calls the hermit life, “graduate school for the spiritually inclined.” Bill Porter is a translator of Buddhist and Taoist mountain poets that uncross your third eye and waft the scent of a fine …