Luci Shaw

Luci Shaw (born 1928 in London, England) is a Christian poet.

Shaw studied at Wheaton College, Illinois and is now Writer in Residence at Regent College, Vancouver. She lectures on art and spirituality, the Christian imagination, poetry-writing, and journaling as an aid to artistic and spiritual growth.^[1]

She has published ten volumes of poetry (several still in print) and numerous non-fiction books, and has edited and collaborated on multiple other works, including several with Madeleine L'Engle. Her poems are widely anthologized.^[2] Shaw usually works in free verse, and typically her poems are quite short, less than a page. Nevertheless, in tone and content, she affiliates most readily with the transcendental poets, often finding in natural details and themes the touch of the eternal or other-worldly.

Shaw married Harold Shaw, and had five children. Harold died of cancer in 1986, and in 1991 Luci married John Hoyte.^[3] She and Hoyte are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Bellingham, Washington.^[2]

Use in music

A number of Shaw's works have been set to music, by a variety of composers:

• Alan Cline used "God in the Dark" as the basis for a cantata.
• Knut Nystedt (Norwegian composer) did a setting for "Mary's Song," sung and recorded by the Elektra Choir of Vancouver, Canada. Album title: Child of Grace.
• Alice Parker set three of Shaw's poems for a song cycle.
• Frederick Frahm composed settings for solo and choir for three of Shaw's poems, "Star Song," "Down He Came From Up," and "Heart Stable."
• Ed Henderson (Canadian) composed a choral setting for "Star Song."
• Roland Fudge (English) composed a choral setting for "One," "Celestial Light," and "Steadfast Taper."

References

1. ↑ "50 Women You Should Know". Christianity Today. Retrieved 16 November 2012. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shaw, Luci. Biography. Accessed October 16, 2007.
3. ↑ Stiles, Peter (2010). "Luci Shaw (1928-)". The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, Volume 1. Scarecrow Press. pp. 559–560.