Gracia Grindal, professor emeritus of rhetoric, is author of “Jesus the Harmony: Gospel Sonnets for 366 Days.” Published in April by Fortress Press, this book of sonnets based on the life of Jesus was written to inspire meditation and reflection.
Grindal begins her book with information about the inspiration behind her sonnets. The heart of the book is the sonnets themselves, which can be used as daily devotional readings or in worship settings. The sonnets are based on lessons from the gospels, including passages as obscure as the genealogy of Jesus and as beloved as the parable of the prodigal son.
Jill Baumgartner, poetry editor for Christian Century and professor of English emerita at Wheaton College, writes, “With these 366 sonnets, remarkable in artistry and number, Gracia Grindal has made literary history. The scriptural and theological knowledge that supports these poems is vast, but it is the imagination infused with the holy in poem after poem that reveals the poet’s grace and skill and the astonishing work of the Spirit.”