Public Conversation and Poetry Reading with Irish Poet Pádraig Ó Tuama at Duke Chapel [Sold Out: Standby and Livestream Available]

Update: Tickets for this event are sold out. People who do not have tickets are welcome to join a standby line outside of Page Auditorium, which is next to the Chapel, before the event begins and they will be seated as space allows. Also, a livestream of the event will be available via Zoom; a recording will not be available afterwards. Click here to register for the livestream. 

Update: Ó Tuama will offer a special workshop for students on Monday, November 18, at 4:30 p.m. in 0015 Westbrook. In the workshop titled “‘In the Beginning’—Stories About the Start,” he will engage participants in writing and sharing exercises, considering some of the opening lines of great literary works and some of the opening lines of our own selves. Students can register for free using the access code UNBOUND24. Click here to register.

The Irish poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama is the featured speaker for a public conversation and poetry reading on Tuesday, November 19, at 6:00 p.m., in Duke University Chapel. The host of the popular podcast Poetry Unbound, Ó Tuama will discuss “Poetry, Prayer, and Public Healing” for Duke Chapel’s 2024 William Preston Few Lecture.

To attend the event, which is open to the public, register for a free ticket through the Duke Box Office. Click here to register.

Working at the intersection of poetry, theology, and conflict resolution, Ó Tuama is the author of eight books that range from memoir to poetry to devotional guide—often blending all three genres. His most recent book, Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love, is a collection of scripture passages, wisdom readings, and prayers presented in the form of poems. A Chicago Tribune summary of his memoir In the Shelter said: “Putting to work poetry and gospel, side by side with story and Celtic spirituality, Ó Tuama explores ideas of shelter along life’s journey, opening up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world.” 

“In Pádraig’s work, I see someone who has a restless heart for God and other people, combined with a savvy, playful linguistic craftsmanship,” said the Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery, dean of Duke Chapel. “Sometimes healing in communities, and even countries, has to be fostered obliquely—like through the mystery of prayer and poetry—and that’s where Pádraig is an expert guide.”

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In advance of Ó Tuama's appearance at the Chapel, the latest episode of our Sounds of Faith podcast explores the intersection of poetry and prayer with the Rev. Dr. Lauren Winner, associate professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School, Also an Episcopal priest who has preached at Duke Chapel, Rev. Dr. Winner describes how poetry and prayer both gesture at what is inexpressible and have a healing quality. Listen to the episode.

Produced by the nonprofit On Being Project, Ó Tuama’s Poetry Unbound podcast celebrates poets, poems, and language from across the centuries and around the world, amassing more than ten million downloads since it began in 2020. In each episode, he takes up a single poem, reading it, analyzing it, adding anecdotes from his own life, and reading it again. “Poetry for me is public voice—it isn’t the only thing needed to change the world, but it’s certainly necessary,” Ó Tuama said in a New Yorker profile of his work.

In his role as a mediator, Ó Tuama has worked with groups to explore story, conflict, religion, and violence. Using poetry, group discussion, and lectures, his work is marked both by lyricism and pragmatism, and includes a practice of evoking stories and participation from attendees.

Ó Tuama’s poems have been published in Poetry Ireland Review, Academy of American Poets, Post Road, cream city review, Holden Village Voice, Proximity Magazine, On Being, Gutter, America, and Seminary Ridge Review. He holds a bachelor of arts in divinity validated by the Pontifical College of Maynooth, a master of theology from Queen’s University Belfast, and recently received a doctorate in Theology through Creative Practice at the University of Glasgow exploring poetry, Irishness, and religion. He splits his time between Belfast, Ireland, and New York City.

The Chapel’s annual Few Lecture takes its name from Duke’s first president who articulated a vision of education promoting the courage to seek the truth and the conviction to live it. The series is funded by the William Preston Few Endowment for Duke Chapel, which was established in 1986 by Kendrick S. Few '39 as a memorial to his father, William Preston Few, the first president of Duke University.

Campus cosponsors of the event include the Department of English, the Thompson Writing Program, the Language, Arts & Media Program (LAMP), and the Divinity School’s Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts.