In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

From master storyteller and host of On Being's Poetry Unbound, Pádraig Ó Tuama, comes an unforgettable memoir of peace and reconciliation, Celtic spirituality, belonging, and sexual identity.

"It is in the shelter of each other that the people live." Drawing on this Irish saying, Ó Tuama relates ideas of shelter and welcome to our journeys of life, using poetry, story, biblical reflection, and prose to open up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world.

In the Shelter introduces Corrymeela, the Northern Ireland peace and reconciliation community Ó Tuama led for many years, and throughout the book he reveals the power of storytelling in communities of conflict. From the heart of a poet comes a profound look at the landscapes we all try to inhabit even as we always search for shelter, a place we can call home.

An instant spiritual classic in Ireland and Britain, now brought to a US readership.

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Publisher Broadleaf Books
Format Paperback
ISBN 9781506470528
eBook ISBN 9781506470535
Age/Grade Range Adult
Dimensions 5 x 7
Pages 262
Publication Date March 23, 2021

Endorsements

"Pádraig Ó Tuama is a kindred artist: his skills as a poet honed for the purpose of the common good."

The Edge, U2

"To say that it is one of the most beautiful and quietly necessary books of our young century is a sweeping assertion, but I will make it. . . .An exquisite work of spiritual autobiography."

from the foreword by Krista Tippett, creator and host of On Being

"So rich."

Brian D. McLaren, author of We Make the Road by Walking

"Pádraig Ó Tuama is a writer of intelligence and intellectual acumen who knows that deep conviction well-articulated can convey deep truths. Just to read In the Shelter is to do yourself good."

John L. Bell

"This is a beautifully crafted book. Pádraig Ó Tuama welcomes varied topics of reflection with open arms, and the realization of the importance of being 'here' in the present as 'a good place to begin something that might be called prayer.' It is a joy to read."

Sheelah Treflé Hidden

Reviews

"In The Shelter is Pádraig Ó Tuama's meditation on the power of breaking free from our false stories into a truer story, into arms that love us, one small conversion at a time.
—Marginalia, Los Angeles Review of Books

"A treasure. . . . Putting to work poetry and gospel, side by side with story and Celtic spirituality, Ó Tuama explores ideas of shelter along life's journey, opening up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world. The reader can't help but be drawn in, slip-sliding into the harbor of the author's soulful words."
—Chicago Tribune

"Compassionate. Resolute. Confronting. Challenging. Wonderful. Comforting."
—Mary McAvoy, Irish Independent