EKSTASIS
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EKSTASIS
Reviving the Christian Imagination

Welcome to Ekstasis

 

We publish poetry, essays & artist profiles that slant toward the triumphant and glorious aspects of life in Christ, framed through the arts and literature. You’re invited to explore the poetic texture of faith.



Longform Essays

We feature thoughtful essays where
art meets academia, and kingdom meets culture.

Home
Three Hours From Silence
Three Hours From Silence

Estee Zandee on Spiritual Noise Pollution

The Stained Glass of Our Lives
The Stained Glass of Our Lives

Amelia Buzzard on Building the Cathedral of Everyday

The Castle Inside the Prison
The Castle Inside the Prison

Elizabeth Genovise on Teaching Literature in a Jail Cell

Toward a Resurrection Aesthetic
Toward a Resurrection Aesthetic

Mischa Willet on the Poetic Impulse to Begin Again

Watching the World at a Distance
Watching the World at a Distance

Whitney Crawford on the Artist’s Ultimate Vocation

The Novel and the Dictator
The Novel and the Dictator

Nadya Williams on the Man Who Criticized Stalin Yet Lived

Wings Smacking Windows
Wings Smacking Windows

Courtney Ellis on Caring in the Face of Helplessness

Playing in the Shadow of Death
Playing in the Shadow of Death

Katy Bowser Hutson on the Integral Spirit of Play

The Book Launch After the Funeral
The Book Launch After the Funeral

Karen Stiller on Love, Resilience, and Writing in the Dark

Praying in Greek Tragedy
Praying in Greek Tragedy

Carolyn Etzel Branch on the Allure & Art of Mysticism

A Scene Report from a Literary Gathering
A Scene Report from a Literary Gathering

Kevin LaTorre on Manifest Community

Standing Bare Before Infinity
Standing Bare Before Infinity

Josh Nadeau on Ancient Cosmology & Sublimity

Bohemia in the Suburbs
Bohemia in the Suburbs

Katy Carl on the Task of Today’s Christian Artist

Necessary Secrecy
Necessary Secrecy

Sara Kyoungah White on Refugia & Interlinear Spaces

A Future After the War
A Future After the War

Lancia E. Smith on Cultivating the Culture of Tomorrow

 

Ecstatic Articles

We feature articles that layer the stories of culture, theology, and technology in a way that presents true myth for a hypermodern age.

 

Featured Poetry

We feature poetry that speaks to the wide breadth of
the Christ-infused core of everyday experience.

Poetry
Where Two Are Gathered
Where Two Are Gathered

Coby Dolloff

To Host a Party
To Host a Party

Jensen Kirkendall

His World to Learn
His World to Learn

Kevin LaTorre

FREED CAROUSELS
FREED CAROUSELS

Ife E Sonaike

Reaching Hanase
Reaching Hanase

David Ehrenman

Interruptions
Interruptions

Noah Bartley

ITHAKA
ITHAKA

Grace Crandall

The Dakotas
The Dakotas

Rachel Joy Welcher

We Were Like Those Who Dream
We Were Like Those Who Dream

Blake Petteway

Propitiation
Propitiation

Kelly Sawin

To the Novelist
To the Novelist

Claire Adderholt

Carrier
Carrier

Haley Hodges

Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea

Jessie Epstein

Sonnet for Reading During Lent
Sonnet for Reading During Lent

Jessica Hooten Wilson

Fourteen nickels
Fourteen nickels

Joanne Epp

Already
Already

Brad Davis

The Waking
The Waking

Carla Funk

we do not deserve the beauty we receive
we do not deserve the beauty we receive

Jonathan Chan

Let the Little Ones Come
Let the Little Ones Come

Angeline Schellenberg

When You Were Thirteen
When You Were Thirteen

Debbie Sawczak

Seven Places
Seven Places

Aaron Lee

More Than a Tourist
More Than a Tourist

Daniel Klawitter

From Carnets
From Carnets

Kevin Hart

Silent Napkin
Silent Napkin

Paul J. Willis

I Want to Lose an Eye to Heaven
I Want to Lose an Eye to Heaven

Graham Varnell

Interviews & Profiles

 

Media & Features

“We live the given life, and not the planned.” — Wendell Berry 🫐
A new series of Advent Vignettes ✨ According to art historian Gilles Lambert, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio puts the scuro in chiaroscuro–a technique emphasizing the contrast between light and dark–by plunging everything into shadow
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." — Julian of Norwich 🍇
“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.” — G.K. Chesterton 💭
Death after a master’s degree 🥀 There are so many examples of artists whose writing has, as Roxane Gay calls it, “written into the wound,” bringing to light the darkness we face in order to examine and make sense of it. As Christi
“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn.” — Ovid 🦌
Death of a poet 🌅 To the last it came, and there she slumps All shuttered doors and twitching nerves All half-torn sheets and blotted words Dark curtains drawn in quiet haste Bedside reaching; foggy hot delirium, To her desk of dreams and holy wo
Memoir of an unremarkable life 📚 If the only people deemed worthy of writing about their lives are the rich, powerful, or unique, we are continually reinforcing a status hierarchy that excludes most of us. In contrast, our ordinary, out-of-the-way