God in the Dark: Literature Ancient and Modern

In the beautiful surrounds of Lancaster's medieval Priory, literary critic Professor Andy Tate and poet–translator Martha Sprackland will explore God and the dark through literature.Martha Sprackland will read from her new translation of St John of the Cross's famous sixteenth-century work of mysticism, Dark Night (Penguin Classics, 2026), and discuss the process of bringing the poet to a contemporary readership; Andy Tate will examine how poets, novelists and theologians have sought signs of the divine in the dark. As the year draws in, we are invited to consider the ways in which darkness – at once literal, literary and spiritual – might offer, beyond the negative connotations we might associate with it, something redemptive as well.

There will be time for questions, and tea/coffee (free) will be served before the event from 1.45 and during the break.