Astonished by love: With poetry as our guide

Wallace Stevens said that we ought to like poetry the way children like the snow. Poetry's ability to refresh our inner landscape, see our own breath, and connect us to our first loves, will all be celebrated in reflection and conversation in this gentle retreat, led by the widely admired speaker and writer Mark Oakley.

The retreat is shaped by four human themes - love of creation, love of justice, love of God, and love of love. Each day we will explore these through Mark’s own creative curation of a wide range of poems. We will encounter classic poets such as Hafiz, John Donne, George Herbert, WH Auden, Emily Dickinson, RS Thomas, and Seamus Heaney, and be introduced to more contemporary ones such as Raymond Antrobus, Jen Hadfield, Kei Miller, Zaffar Kunial, and Carol Ann Duffy. No prior knowledge of poems or poets is required. 

Programme sessions will take place in the beautiful new Village Hall which is a short walk from the hotel, and there will also be plenty of free time to explore the island, as well as options for joining with daily worship at Iona Abbey.

Mark Oakley is Dean of Southwark and Whitelands Professorial Fellow in Christian Theology and Contemporary Issues, Roehampton University. He is the author of several books on themes of literature and spirituality, including The Splash Of Words: Believing in Poetry, which won the international Michael Ramsey Prize.