Mark Jarman

William Thompson (Troy University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

Born 5 Jun 1952
Activity 1978-ongoing

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Jarman's Works

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It is almost misleading to refer to Mark Jarman as the leading Christian poet in the United States: the designation suggests a narrowness of stylistic range, a predictability of subject matter, and a commitment to doctrinal conformity. In fact Jarman has composed masterful poems—both lyric and narrative—that suggest little or no interest in religion. Moreover, even his most explicitly Christian poems are marked by a consistently surprising temperament that Jarman himself describes as heterodox. Nevertheless, since the appearance of

Questions for Ecclesiastes

in 1997, Jarman's poems have focused intensely on matters of belief and disbelief, and on the mysteries of love and suffering. Because he has created a body of poetry that is both authentically Christian and of its time, the…

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1277 words

Citation: Thompson, William. "Mark Jarman". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 October 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11747, accessed 24 November 2024.]