Abram Van Engen

Abram Site Picture.jpg — Abram Van Engen is Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities, Chair of the English Department, and Professor of Religion and Politics (by courtesy) at Washington University in St. Louis.
Van Engen has published widely on religion and literature, focusing especially on seventeenth-century Puritans and the way they have been remembered and remade in American culture. His forthcoming book, *Word Made Fresh*, introduces reading poetry as a spiritual practice.

Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Yale University Press

Have you ever read a book that turned your world upside down? What about a poem?

Poetry has the power to enliven, challenge, change, and enrich our lives. But it can also feel intimidating, confusing, or simply “not for us.” In these joyful and wise reflections, Abram Van Engen shows readers how poetry is for everyone—and how it can reinvigorate our Christian faith.

Intertwining close readings with personal storytelling, Van Engen explains how and why to read poems as a spiritual practice. Far from dry, academic instruction, his approach encourages readers to delight in poetry, even as they come to understand its form. He also opens up the meaning of poetry and parables in Scripture, revealing the deep connection between literature and theology.

Word Made Fresh is more than a guide to poetry—it’s an invitation to wonder, to speak up, to lament, to praise. Including dozens of poems from diverse authors, this book will inspire curious and thoughtful readers to see God and God’s creation in surprising new ways.

Praise for City on a Hill

Winner of the 2021 Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize, awarded by the Massachusetts Historical Society: “A major contribution to the historical scholarship on Puritanism and American exceptionalism. . . . Truly an influential book.”

Winner of the 2022 Pelikan Award, a biannual prize given by an independent committee of Yale faculty, sponsored by Yale University Press

“Van Engen uncovers the story of the most revered sermon in the American saga, tracing its shadowy origin to the bully pulpit centuries later as a motto for national exceptionalism. A trifecta of scholarship, narrative history, and a timely contribution to debates over our role in the world.”—Strobe Talbott, Brookings Institution

Abram Van Engen has written a brilliant cultural history of how the meaning of America has been defined, over time, by appeals to the Puritans’ grand vision of a ‘city on a hill.’ This story, with its many twists and turns, illuminates the power and the contradictions of these myths of American exceptionalism. The chapters on the influence of Perry Miller are truly exceptional.”—Nathan Hatch, president of Wake Forest University

Poetry for All Podcast

This podcast is for those who already love poetry and for those who know very little about it. In this podcast, we read a poem, discuss it, see what makes it tick, learn how it works, grow from it, and then read it one more time. Joanne Diaz and Abram Van Engen, co-hosts.

What is “A Rich Life”?

Isn’t that the question?

In 2019, Professors Abram Van Engen (English) and Peter Boumgarden (Business) launched a class on markets and morality at Washington University in St. Louis. Their thesis was that you can learn something unique about market systems and broader questions of meaning by engaging with literature.

But beyond business ethics, a set of weighty and existential questions kept coming up throughout the class for both professors and students. What does it mean to live a rich life in the market systems we inhabit? What does finding and living a life of meaning in the market require?

At “A Rich Life,” join Peter, Abram, their friend and colleague Daryl Van Tongeren, and a stable of guest writers as they explore the creative intersection of market, morality, and meaning.