Sally Read curates anthology of ‘100 Great Catholic Poems’

CV NEWS FEED // Award-winning poet and Catholic convert Sally Read has curated 100 Great Catholic Poems, an anthology published by Word on Fire that spans 2,000 years of poetry reflecting the nature of the Catholic faith and its timeless truths.

The anthology begins with Mary’s “Magnificat,” as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, and concludes with George Mackay Brown’s 1996 poem “Lux Perpetua,” according to a review Angelus News. shared about the work.

Read’s selection also includes celebrated works such as Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “God’s Grandeur” and Francis Thompson’s “The Hound of Heaven,” alongside writings by saints like St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and St. John Paul II.

Each poem is paired with an in-depth introduction by Read, offering historical context and spiritual insights. For instance, her commentary on Mechthild of Magdeburg’s “I Cannot Dance, O Lord” explores the poet’s bold invitation to God to lead her in a dance of joyful union, connecting it to the Catholic call to trust and abandon oneself to divine love.

According to Read, the book reflects her belief that poetry uniquely conveys the deep truths of the faith which are “too complex for stark prose.”

“Poetry is the language of Catholicism,” Word on Fire’s introduction to Read’s book states. “From the songs of Scripture to the hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church has always used metaphor and image, meter and rhyme, and the music of language to illuminate and inculcate the faith.”

According to Angelus News, the work also offers an opportunity to “discover or rediscover transcendent poems by lesser-known poets,” as well as by figures better known for other talents, such as Michelangelo, who authored more than 300 poems. Read opted not to include living poets, noting that “greatness needs to stand some test of time.”

Read explores the essence of “great Catholic poetry” in her anthology’s 24-page introduction, describing it as a “Catholic mindset” or “Catholic heart,” which is often centered on “a physicality that could only ever be found in the poetry of a faith that believes that its adherents take God in their mouths.”

She emphasized that a poem doesn’t need to be explicitly Catholic in subject or written by a Catholic to reflect the incarnational nature of the faith. Instead, Read sought works that reflect the tenets of the faith in their perspective on reality. 

Ultimately, Read invites readers to let the anthology’s 100 selections define “great Catholic poetry,” embracing the complexity and nuance inherent to the subject.

“Whether Catholic or non-Catholic,” the Word on Fire intro says, “a poetry skeptic or a poetry lover, readers will glean from these pages a deepened appreciation of the history of poetry, the life of the Church, and the powerful ways in which each strengthens the other.”

Word on Fire has also published the story of Read’s conversion, chronicled in her book The Mary Pages: An Atheist’s Journey to the Mother of God. This book follows her initial memoir, Night’s Bright Darkness, and recounts “the strange, raw, and epiphany-filled stories” that filled her nine-month journey from atheism to Catholicism, intertwining her personal struggles with stories of others who unknowingly encountered Mary’s influence. According to Word on Fire, The Mary Pages serves as “a testimony of how a Mother patiently brought one child home to her Son — and slowly revealed her own heart.”

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