Canadian Christian poet asks for your help

 Don Martin, one of my favourite poets, writes,

I have been spending the last year compiling a major, international anthology of contemporary Christian poetry. One snag has been obtaining permissions from publishers (almost completed) and paying for them. If you know of anyone who might support such a project, please pass this information along. If you are interested in helping that would be great, but don't feel compelled to. Anyway, here's the information:

I am writing to you about a labour of love that I have dedicated a lot of time to—The Turning Aside: The Kingdom Poets Book of Contemporary Christian Poetry. This book will make very clear, the significant contributions Christians continue to make to world culture in the form of poetry. It will be published as part of the Poiema Poetry Series through Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock).

 

In order to gain permission from various publishers to include poems by certain significant poets, there are fees that have to be paid—fees that will not be recouped through book sales. I am thankful to so many poets who have convinced their publishers to waive these fees. Even so, there will still be about $4000 (Canadian) in fees that have to be paid.

 

Imago has kindly taken this anthology on as an activity—which means that all donations toward The Turning Aside: The Kingdom Poets Book of Contemporary Christian Poetry will be income tax receiptable in Canada.

 

Wipf and Stock Publishers have already generously agreed to provide contributors' copies for poets, which will amount to about 45 copies of the book.

 

Patrons who contribute more than $250, prior to the book going to print, will have their names acknowledged in the anthology—which should appear later this year.

 

The Executive Editor of Christianity Today, Andy Crouch, wrote in his article "Faith and the Arts: A Fragile Friendship" in the May 20, 2016 issue.

 

            "If we evangelicals want the fine arts and literature to thrive, we need to support both arenas in two ways: with our money and with our institutions. At the most basic level, Christians who care about artistic excellence need to put their money where their heart is...Even still, most of us can make choices—with our attention, our encouragement, and our modest spending—to support today’s artists of faith."

 

Please consider supporting this project.

 

Thank you,

Don

 

Please send cheques (made out to IMAGO) to the following address:

IMAGO 630 Indian Rd. Toronto, ON M6P 2C6

or visit the website where Paypal and credit cards are accepted:

Imago: The Turning Aside

Please indicate that the support is for The Turning Aside

 

PS: We are going to try to get Don Martin to speak at our spring conference in Ottawa.