Hymns are songs in praise of a god. Most hymns are composed by hymn writers to be sung in religious assemblies and recited in private devotion. In contrast, secular poets make art out of anything they know, see, remember, experience, think or feel, including out of the energy they experience from poems of earlier eras. This is a broadly collaborative project, aiming at starting a conversation between secular poets about sacred poems (hymns) they might know and enjoy.

My project is an invitation to poets, without known affiliation to religious communities, to name and comment on their favorite hymns. Their essays or paragraphs will be collected, with an afterword by Professor Thomas Troeger of Yale University, and published in a book. Individual essays might be published in journals such as The Christian Century and Image. Hymn sings will be planned to sing the poets’ favorites and hear their commentaries.

The question is, how do some of our best poets describe and evaluate a hymn? I expect that the essays returned will be part literary criticism and part personal reflection. Teaching from these poets might inspire and instruct pastors and members of congregations.