From the time she was a child in Toronto, celebrated poet Luci Shaw has sent Advent greetings to her friends and family with a carefully crafted original poem. What began as a simple childhood exercise has now become a beloved annual tradition. Though a number of these poems have appeared elsewhere, Accompanied by Angels gathers all of them for the first time into a collection for all readers for any season of the year.Beginning with the joy, terror, and wonder of the annunciation, Shaw leads the reader on a poetic journey through the birth, life, and death of Jesus the Christ, culminating in the joyous and unexpected wonder of his resurrection. Her subjects run from the mundane to the sublime, from birds in flight and waiting old men to fiery angels and storm-ravaged ridges.
Luci Shaw (1928-2025) was an author who published fourteen volumes of poetry during her lifetime, including Polishing the Petoskey Stone, Writing the River, and The Angles of Light. She also coauthored three books with Madeleine L'Engle: Winter Song, Friends for the Journey, and A Prayerbook for Spiritual Friends. During her career, she served as a charter member of the Chrysostom Society of Writers, editor for the arts journal Radix, and writer in residence at Regent College. She was the recipient of the 2013 Denise Levertov Award for Creative Writing, awarded by Seattle Pacific University.