5 Spiritual Books & Poetry Anthologies by Women Writers

 

1. Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth by Alice Walker

Walker’s poetry responds to post-9/11 emotional trauma with “less yang, far, far more yin.” Her poems imagine meditative spaces and explore native traditions of the Americas and Africa for spiritual healing in the West.

 2. Thirst by Mary Oliver

This anthology of poems, written after the death of Oliver’s life partner, has an elegiac tone as the poet encounters faith, healing, and restoration. Poems address grief, belief, and meditation, as exemplified in the poem, “Prayer.”

 3. The Stream and the Sapphire by Denise Levertov

Levertov’s collection of poems reclaims Biblical myths and figures from a feminist lens. Her poetry serves as a spiritual exercise that contemplate grace while inspiring Ignatian-like social justice.

 4. Aunt Carmen’s Book of Practical Saints by Pat Mora

Mora’s poetry acts as an extension of the rural New Mexican Catholic tradition of worshipping local saints. Her poetry-as-prayer is paired with images of wood-carved saints, aligning multiple art media with spiritual vocation.

 5. The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk

Starhawk, a prominent pagan feminist who practices earth-based spirituality, explores ecological crisis, progressive love relationships, and spiritual odysseys in her famous post-apocalyptic novel.