Tue 1 Apr: Images of Jesus in Art and Poetry - 'Meeting Christ in Poetry'
This is the fourth of five talks for Lent arranged by Churches Together in Charlbury on the theme 'Images of Jesus in Art and Poetry'. They will be held on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm in St Mary's Parish Church.
The speaker is the Revd. Esther Lay. She will be looking at three aspects of our relationship with God: Faith/Doubt, Incarnation/Love, and Passion/Compassion.
Esther (formerly Brazil) was born in California, and brought up in Beijing, Singapore, and Sydney (with a year in Southern Illinois). She read philosophy and theology at The Queen’s College, Oxford, and trained as a classical singer at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After a distinguished ten-year career as a concert soloist specialising in baroque repertoire, she trained for priesthood at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and served her curacy at St Mary Magdalen, Oxford, from 2021-2024, where she was the first woman to hold the post. She is now Rector of Wootton, in West Oxfordshire.
Esther is the winner of the 2024 Write By The Sea poetry competition and the Cuddesdon Creative Writing Prize, third-prize winner of Trio International, and 4th-and-6th-prize winner of the Plaza Poetry Prize. She has been shortlisted twice for the Bridport Prize and longlisted for the Fish Prize and Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year. She has recent work in Allegro (as Esther Brazil), The Waxed Lemon (Issue 8), The Ghost Furniture Catalogue, and forthcoming work in Grain Magazine (January 2025), and Thimble Literary Magazine (March 2025).
There is no charge for admission but donations will be gratefully received towards expenses. Please arrive in good time for a prompt start to the talk at 7.30pm. There will be opportunity for questions and the meeting will finish by 9pm.