Generously guided by St. Columba's Parishoners Bob and Brenda in this benefit workshop, participants will explore T.S. Eliot’s spiritual vision in his most famous, but difficult, poem. Pre- reading the poem will add greatly to the conversation. You can order the paperback edition of Four Quartets to ensure we are on the same page. ISBN 978-0-15-633225-5 Mariner Books, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt ($9.99 Amazon).

Cost: $50

Originally aired on January 21-23, 2022

Bob Hass grew up in Marin County, attended St. Mary's College and Stanford University. He taught American poetry, environmental writing, and creative writing in the English department at the University of California at Berkeley for thirty years during which he had plenty of occasion to think about T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets. He retired from Cal with the title of Distinguished Chair Emeritus in Poetry and Poetics. A much honored poet, he served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to1997 and has been awarded both the National Book Award in poetry and the Pultizer prize. His latest book of poems Summer Snow was published in 2020.

Brenda Hillman has published collections of poetry with Wesleyan University Press, most recently Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire (2013), which received the Griffin International Prize for Poetry, and Extra Hidden Life, Among the Days (2018). Named by Poets and Writers as one of fifty inspiring writers in the world, Hillman has also worked as an activist for social and environmental justice. Her work has received Fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and the Guggenheim Foundation. With her mother, Helen Hillman, she has  co-translated  Brazilian poet Ana Cristina Cesar’s At Your Feet. From 2016-2021 Hillman served Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets. She lives with her husband Robert Hass, directs the Poetry Week at the Community of Writers, and teaches in the M.F.A. Writing Program at Saint Mary’s College of California. http://blueflowerarts.com/artist/brenda-hillman/