Welcome
Part of the AHRC/ESRC-funded Religion and Society Programme, this project investigates the spiritual possibilities of the present by rescuing a neglected poem, one of the great epics of English literature, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene.
It involves Royal Holloway, University of London; the University of Oxford; Manchester Cathedral;The College of St George, Windsor Castle; The Windsor Festival; Shakespeare’s Globe; Poet in the City; Cumberland Lodge; Bishop David Brown School; and George Mitchell School.
And it will be of interest to poets, writers and readers as well as scholars and those of all faiths and none, who hunger for beauty, meaning and value. To find out more, read About the Project.
News |
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2nd May 2012
Archbishop Rowan Williams endorses the book of Redcrosse!
'How do we think about identity in ways that don't reflect anxiety, fear of the other, uncritical adulation of our past and all the other pitfalls that surround this subject? The Redcrosse project manages to negotiate these difficulties with immense imaginative energy and honesty: no sour notes, no attempt to overcompensate by desperately overapologetic rhetoric, simply a recovery of deep roots and generous vision. As much as it takes its cue from Spenser, it's a contemporary working out of some of the great and inexhaustible legacy of Blake, a unique contribution to what is often a pretty sterile discussion of who we are in these islands.' - Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, UK
Redcrosse is now at press and will be published to coincide with the RSC Redcrosse in Coventry Cathedral on the 17th of November this year. For more on the book click here.
16th March 2012
We're delighted to announce that the Royal Shakespeare Company will be performing Redcrosse in Coventry Cathedral as part of the Cathedral's Golden Jubilee on November the 17th 2012. For further information, please click here.
29th January 2012
The new poetic liturgy arising from the project, together with some reflections by major writers, is due to be published later this year by Continuum Books. A description of the book and the table of contents follow.
Redcrosse: remaking religious poetry for today’s world
Do poetry and criticism matter in today’s world?
How can the poetry of the past help us tackle the changing nature of religious faith and national identity?
This book explores the creation of Redcrosse: a new poetic liturgy for St George’s Day and a unique collaborative work written by the critic Ewan Fernie, the theologian Andrew Shanks and the major contemporary poets Jo Shapcott, Michael Symmons Roberts and Andrew Motion. The authors of the poem together with other leading writers - including John Milbank, Salley Vickers and Sarah Apetrei - reflect on the creation of the liturgy and its central inspiration, Edmund Spenser’s epic Renaissance poem, The Faerie Queene, as well as on its two premieres in St George’s Chapel, Windsor and Manchester Cathedral, and its sometimes controversial public reception.
Including the full text of Redcrosse itself, the volume triumphantly shows that a new poetic work really can address some of the most pressing concerns of our time.
Contents
Contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Reflections
Ewan Fernie, ‘Through the Red Cross’
Salley Vickers, ‘For Real’
Andrew Shanks, ‘A Desire for the Impossible’
Michael Symmons Roberts, ‘The Poet’s Tale’
Sarah Apetrei, ‘Fight the Good Fight?’
John Milbank, ‘From Romance to Ritual: Redcrosse and Spenser’s Faerie Queene’
2. Redcrosse
A New Celebration of England and St George by Ewan Fernie, Michael Symmons Roberts, Jo Shapcott and Andrew Shanks, and featuring a new poem from Andrew Motion.
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