6 Christian Poets You Should Know

There are so many ways to connect art as entertainment and the Christian world.

Especially now, it’s even more important to balance the onslaught of content pointed away from the Cross with Christian and Godly entertainment, and today, we want to dive into the world of literature, specifically poetry.

Below is our list of six modern Christian poets (and one legend from the past) whose work you should know and enjoy!

Obviously, this list is not exhaustive, so use it as a starting place for those who are new to the Christian poetry scene, or missing key voices at the proverbial table.

This list is diverse and includes women of color, and in these anxious times, we need the calming power of poetry more than ever.

Scott Cairns
In addition to being a poet, Cairns is an essayist and memoirist who once served as the editor of the American Literary Review. His catalogue includes one spiritual memoir and a collection of translations of Christian mystics, and his work has been anthologized in Harper Collins’ Best Spiritual Writing and Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Spiritual Writing.
His top works on Amazon
Luci Shaw
Shaw is a Christian poet, essayist and writer-in-residence at Regent College in Vancouver, where she lectures on the Christian imagination, among other subjects. Her work has been included in several religious journals, and she is also a member of the Chrysostom Society, whose mission is to serve the Christian community by promoting the development of quality literature.
Her top works on Amazon
Christian Wiman
Wiman has taught at Northwestern University and Stanford University, among other institutions, and is now a professor of the practice of religion and literature at Yale University. In fact, the Yale website says this of Wiman: “His particular interests include modern poetry, the language of faith, ‘accidental’ theology (that is, theology conducted by unexpected means), and what it means to be a Christian intellectual in a secular culture.”
His top works on Amazon
Marilyn Nelson
Nelson is an award-winning poet and children’s book author, and in 1992, her book The Homeplace won the Anisfield-Wolf Award, which honors works that contribute to the understanding of racism and the advocacy of diversity in global culture. She is also the daughter of a Tuskegee Airman.
Her top works on Amazon
Geoffrey Hill
Hill was a distinguished English poet, who at one point was known as “the greatest living poet in the English language. He formerly was a professor emeritus of English literature and religion at Boston University, and his website describes him as a man who “lived a life dedicated to poetry and scholarship, morality and faith.”
His top works on Amazon
Phillis Wheatley
Wheatley was the first Black author of a published book of poetry: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, in 1773. Wheatley was a slave, but her work delivered her to fame and was even recognized by President George Washington.
Her top works on Amazon