The Third Renunciation was just reviewed in Pedestal Magazine and I’m at a loss for words. It’s always humbling when a review “gets” a collection in a special way.
Award (almost) announcements
Two close but no cigar announcements:
I.
Selections from Selling the World (my ekphrastic manuscript in progress") was longlisted for the Kinsman Avenue Publishing African Diaspora Award. My poems “Adoration of the Magi,” “Bust of Akhenaten,” “homegoing,” “The Moorish Chief,” & “Quilt” will all published in a forthcoming anthology.
II.
The Third Renunciation was a finalist for the New England Poetry Club Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize. This is the second time I’ve been a finalist for this prize.
Review of The Third Renunciation in Presence 2024
Guest Post for AGFCG Card Talk Series
I have a guest blog post for A Game for Good Christians’ Card Talk series entitled “God Planning Your Pain to Make A Point.” It employs one of my theological sonnets that appears in The Third Renunciation.
I previously had the privilege of editing AGFGC’s literary anthology This Present Former Glory: An Anthology of Honest Spiritual Literature.
If you don’t know A Game for Good Christians, imagine what you get if you crossed Cards Against Humanity with the Bible.
Psaltery & Lyre Book Review of The Third Renunciation
“Henry’s work is skillfully filled with contradictions, provocation, humor, aggression, and ponderance. Be prepared to sit down with your own self and allow yourself to question your faith and the absurdity of life as you read these vividly powerful poems. Each time you read them, you’ll find new wisdom.”
I’m pleased to have this thoughtful review of The Third Renunciation in Psaltery & Lyre
Fare Forward’s The Editors’ Best of 2023 - The Third Renunciation
In a year filled with mass shootings, hate crimes, and wars, I craved a book on theodicy. But I wasn’t going to find the book I personally needed on a systematic theology shelf. Instead, I reread Henry’s poems.
A Review of The Third Renunciation
Caldwell University’s Journal Editing class has posted a series of reviews of poetry collections. The Third Renunciation is among the collections chosen. Click below to read all of them. Mine is second from the bottom.
Slant Books Review of The Third Renunciation
Brian Volk wrote a review of The Third Renunciation for Slant Books. It’s a mind-blowing honor to be considered alongside the new work of B.H. Fairchild and Scott Cairns.
The StoryGraph Reviews of The Third Renunciation
Reviews of The Third Renunciation on The StoryGraph website.
Review of The Third Renunciation at The Poetry Question
The Third Renunciation by Matthew E. Henry is a collection of sonnets that presents the theological in a way in which the reader is made to ruminate on their own faith and understanding of the divine, the religious and the unknown. Centered on the exploration of evil, pain and the perceptions that we all hold that demarcate what these conceptions are personally. Henry’s sonnets make sustained use of metaphor both individually and between themselves where an overarching extended metaphor can be seen that begs the reader to ask themselves; “What truth do you hold and is it consistent?”
Perhaps one notion that stays with me the most upon reflecting on Henry’s latest collection is the idea that the divine has lasted throughout human existence. However, it may be that our conception of divinity must truly change for salvation to be found. On Earth or otherwise. …
The Third Renunciation has officially arrived!
My second full-length collection is now live. Click below to get the full rundown and grab a copy.
The Third Renunciation COVER REVEAL!
My second full length collection, The Third Renunciation is dropping this spring from NYQ Books and the cover is now live!
