Ayodeji Malcolm Guite (; born 12 November 1957) is an English poet,

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and academic. Born in Nigeria to British

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

parents, Guite earned degrees from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

. His research interests include the intersection of religion and the arts, and the examination of the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

and

Owen Barfield Arthur Owen Barfield (9 November 1898 – 14 December 1997) was an English philosopher, author, poet, critic, and member of the Inklings. Life Barfield was born in London, to Elizabeth (née Shoults; 1860–1940) and Arthur Edward Barfield (186 ...

, and British poets such as

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

. He was a

Bye-Fellow A Bye-Fellow is a position in academia and post-secondary education at several British and Commonwealth universities for a Fellow who is not a member of the foundation of a college and "may or may not have fewer privileges than a full fellow". See ...

and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

, and an associate chaplain of

St Edward King and Martyr, Cambridge St Edward King and Martyr is a church located on Peas Hill in central Cambridge, England. It is dedicated to Edward the Martyr, who was King of England from 975 until his murder in 978. In 1525 it was at St Edward's that what is said to have be ...

. On several occasions, he has taught as visiting faculty at several colleges and universities in England and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Guite is the author of five books of poetry, including two

chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

s and three full-length

collections Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

, as well as several books on Christian faith and theology. Guite has a decisively simple, formalist style in his poems, many of which are

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

s, and he stated that his aim is to "be profound without ceasing to be beautiful." Guite performs as a singer and guitarist fronting the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

-based

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, rhythm and blues, and rock band Mystery Train.Mystery Train
(official website). Retrieved 20 July 2015. He also has a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

page, where he shares his passions and musings with his viewers.
Retrieved 17 March 2024.

Early life and education

Guite was born on 12 November 1957 in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

, in the

Federation of Nigeria The Federation of Nigeria was a predecessor to modern-day Nigeria from 1954 to 1963. It was a British protectorate until its independence on 1 October 1960. British rule of Colonial Nigeria ended in 1960, when the ''Nigeria Independence Act 196 ...

. At birth, he was given the first name ''Ayodeji'' which is a Yoruba tribal name meaning "the second joy".Nathaniel Darling
Interview: Reverend Dr Malcolm Guite, Girton
''The Cambridge Student'' (25 April 2014). Retrieved 20 July 2015.Lancia E. Smith
Interview Series with Malcolm Guite, Part 1
''Cultivating The Good, The True, & the Beautiful'' (1 May 2012). Retrieved 19 July 2015. According to Guite, the name was suggested to his mother by the Yoruba nurse who attended to her through a difficult childbirth and who Guite states probably saved his and his mother's lives. His parents were British expatriates living in Nigeria, where his father was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

lay preacher A lay preacher is a preacher who is not ordained (i.e. a layperson) and who may not hold a formal university degree in theology. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects. Overview Some denominations specifically disco ...

who travelled around the country evangelising. His father also taught as lecturer in

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

. According to Guite, after ten years in Nigeria, his father, "ever the wanderer, went and got a job in Canada, where we then moved". Although his family had settled in Canada, his parents thought he was losing his British identity and decided to enroll him in boarding school in England where he spent his teenage years. He attended the

Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School Haberdashers' Boys' School (formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School) is a 4–18 boys Independent school (United Kingdom) in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school was ...

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, which follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. He describes the boarding school experience as terrible, an "atmosphere of guilt, oppression and general alienation" where he strayed from his childhood Christian faith. In its place, Guite embraced a "rational scientific materialism" coloured by

B.F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1948 until his retirement in 1 ...

behaviourism Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understand the behavior of humans and other animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex elicited by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that indivi ...

and the

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

. During these years, Guite says that he was not sure whether he belonged in England or in Canada. In the end, however, he decided that he belonged in England after winning a scholarship to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

to read English and after discovering "

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...

"—something he says "they don't have properly in Canada at all". Guite adds that after these two events he "fell in love with Cambridge, and I've never quite escaped its gravitational pull". Guite returned gradually to his Christian faith, first under the influence of beauty in the poetry of

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

and

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

and visits to historical sites that had deep religious significance—

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, the Irish village of

Glencolmcille Glencolmcille or Glencolumbkille () is a small district on the Atlantic coast of southwest County Donegal in Ireland. Named after Saint Colm Cille (Columba), it is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Banagh. Glencolmcille is in the ...

and the island of

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

in the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

. After delving into the works of Keats and Shelley, Guite decided to begin writing poetry. In his final year of undergraduate study, Guite states that he had a religious experience writing a literary paper analysing the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

that he likened to a conversion experience. He chose to be confirmed in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

shortly after. Guite graduated from Cambridge with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA), later automatically upgraded to

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA (Cantab)) in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

in 1980.Girton College, University of Cambridge
Malcolm Guite, Chaplain
(faculty page). Retrieved 19 July 2015. After graduating, Guite taught for several years as a secondary-school teacher before deciding to seek a doctoral degree, and obtained his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) from

in 1993. His doctoral dissertation focused on "the centrality of memory as a theme in the sermons and meditations of

Lancelot Andrewes Lancelot Andrewes (155525 September 1626) was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chi ...

and

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

and to explore the extent of their influence on the treatment of memory in

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

s poetry".Ayodeji Malcolm Guite,
The art of memory and the art of salvation : a study with reference to the works of Lancelot Andrewes, John Donne and T.S.Elliot
' (sic) (Durham theses, Durham University, 1993), quote from "Abstract". While researching the topic of his dissertation, in considering the struggles of John Donne with a similar question in the early seventeenth-century, Guite began to wonder if God was calling him too to be a priest.

Career

Guite was ordained as a priest in the

in 1991. As a deacon he was first assigned to a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

on "the Oxmoor estate in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

".Jules Evans
Malcolm Guite on poetry as a door into the dark
at ''Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations''. Retrieved 20 July 2015. He described this period as not having much time for writing sonnets, saying: "being a priest and a poet feels a very natural combination now. It didn’t at first". He put poetry aside for seven years, "in order to concentrate on and learn deeply my priestly vocation, and life in my parishes was totally absorbing and demanding so it felt right to let the other fields lie fallow".Lancia E. Smith
Interview Series with Malcolm Guite – Part 2
''Cultivating The Good, The True, & the Beautiful'' (5 May 2012). Retrieved 20 July 2015. Guite teaches in the pastoral theology graduate programme at the

Cambridge Theological Federation The Cambridge Theological Federation (CTF) is an association of theological colleges, courses and houses based in Cambridge, England and founded in 1972. The federation offers several joint theological programmes of study open to students in mem ...

where he frequently advises "clergy who are returning to academia to do a dissertation to reflect on their often amazing parish experiences". From 2003 he was chaplain and Bye-Fellow of

. Guite also lectures regularly in the United States and Canada, including visiting positions at

Duke Divinity School The Duke Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 ...

and

Regent College Regent College is an interdenominational evangelical Christian College of Christian studies, and an affiliated college of the University of British Columbia, located next to the university's campus in the University Endowment Lands west of Va ...

. Guite describes the focus of his research interests as "the interface between theology and the arts, more specifically Theology and Literature" and "special interests in

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

and

" as well as

and British poets. Since October 2014 Guite has been a visiting

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

St John's College, Durham St John's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. The college was established in 1909 as a Church of England theological college and became a full constituent college of th ...

. Guite performs as a singer and guitarist fronting the Cambridgeshire-based blues, rhythm and blues, and rock band Mystery Train. He has collaborated with Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Bell for several tracks on a 4-CD set by Bell called ''Pilgrimage'' that was released in 2014 by Signpost Music. In January 2017 Guite was interview on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''Great Lives Series'', together with

Suzannah Lipscomb Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb (born 7 December 1978)
, Library of Congress Name Authority File is a Britis ...

, on how C. S. Lewis had inspired her life. Guite writes the weekly "Poet's Corner" column for the ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

'', an Anglican newspaper. He has also been interviewed several times on the newspaper's

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

Poetry and persona

Guite's poetry has been characterised as modern-day metaphysical poems and psalms.University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Weatherspoon Art Museum
"Heaven's Troubadour: An Evening of Poetry and Song with Malcolm Guite, Sep 11, 6:30pm-8pm"
(September 2014). Retrieved 8 August 2015. Guite's poetry tends to conform to traditional forms, especially the

, and employs both

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

and

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

. The former

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, remarked that Guite "knows exactly how to use the sonnet form to powerful effect" and that his poems "offer deep resources for prayer and meditation to the reader".Malcolm Guite, quoting Rowan Williams and Grevel Lindop, i
"Kind Words From Rowan Williams"
at Malcolm Guite (blog), 23 November 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2015. Note: Both quotes appear as blurbs on the cover of Guite's ''Sounding the Seasons'' (Canterbury Press Norwich, 2012).Sebastian Snook
"Poetry Reading and Book Launch with Malcolm Guite"
Sarum College, 19 December 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2015. Concerning Guite's collection ''Sounding the Seasons'', the English poet and literary critic

Grevel Lindop Grevel Charles Garrett Lindop (born 6 October 1948) is an English poet, academic and literary critic. Life Lindop was born in Liverpool to solicitor John Neale Lindop, LL.M. and Winifred (née Garrett), and educated at Liverpool College, then W ...

remarked: "using the sonnet form with absolute naturalness as he traces the year and its festivals, he offers the reader—whether Christian or not—profound and beautiful utterance which is patterned but also refreshingly spontaneous." Guite has stated that his aim is to "be profound without ceasing to be beautiful." He has said that a poet can discuss emotions like sorrow without having to lose form, and specifically that the goal of his style contrasts a lot of modern poetry which he states tends to be "quite difficult, jagged and rebarbative; a lot of modern poetry deliberately eschews form or beauty, and is almost deliberately trying to put the reader off." Citing these difficulties, Guite recounted that his entry into poetry was aided by engaging the lyrics of the singer-songwriters

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

Holly Ordway Holly Ordway is a professor of English at Houston Christian University. She is known also as a Tolkien scholar. She won a 2022 Mythopoeic Awards, Mythopoeic Award for her book ''Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages''. Li ...

, Professor of English at

Houston Christian University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University (HBU), is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Its Cultural Arts Center houses three museums: the ...

, writes that "Guite helps us see clearly and deeply how poetry allows us to know truth in a different but complementary way to propositional, rational argument" in her review of ''Faith, Hope, and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination''. In a review of Guite's collection ''The Singing Bowl'', Kevin Belmonte, a ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' contributor who has written biographies of

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

and

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, journalist and magazine editor, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brow ...

, describes Guite as a "questing poet" whose poems "point to places of possibility—in everything—from the commonplace to the transcendent" and explore "what it means to persist in the presence of a God who hears and knows us in time of trouble". Belmonte has further characterised Guite as an English

national treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

. Guite has commented in interviews that he has been influenced by the works of the poets

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

and

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotio ...

, and that he holds Herbert's poem "Bitter-Sweet" dearly. In discussing the impact Herbert's poem has on his views, he said "what I see Herbert saying in that poem is that we take our passions, and sometimes our faults and our brokenness and our stains, and we let God anneal his story. So there's some point in which we become a window of grace".Duke Divinity School
Malcolm Guite: Church with poetry enshrined at the heart
''Faith & Leadership'' (20 July 2009). Retrieved 18 July 2015. Guite has described himself in interviews as "a poet, priest, rock & roller, in any order you like, really. I'm the same person in all three."

Works

Discography

* 2007: ''Malcolm Guite: The Green Man and other songs'' * 2011: ''Dancing through the Fire''MTV Artists
Malcolm Guite Discography: Dancing Through the Fire"
Retrieved 20 July 2015.

Poetry

* 2002: ''Saying the Names'' * 2004: ''The Magic Apple Tree'' * 2012: ''Sounding the Seasons: Seventy sonnets for Christian year'' (Canterbury Press Norwich) * 2013: ''The Singing Bowl'' (Canterbury Press Norwich) * 2016: ''Parable and Paradox'' (Canterbury Press) * 2017: ''Love, Remember: 40 Poems of Loss, Lament and Hope'' (Canterbury Press Norwich) * 2019: ''After Prayer'' (Canterbury Press) * 2021: ''David's Crown'' (Canterbury Press)

Christian Theology and Practice

* 2000: ''Beholding the Glory: Incarnation through the Arts'', Jeremy S. Begbie (Editor), (Baker Academic) * 2008: ''What Do Christians Believe?: Belonging and Belief in Modern Christianity'' (Walker & Company) * 2012: ''Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination'' (Ashgate, Ashgate Studies in Theology, Imagination and the Arts) * 2014: ''Reflections for Lent 2015'' (Church House Publishing) (as chapter contributor) * 2014: ''Word in the Wilderness'' (Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd) (as editor) * 2015: ''Waiting on the Word: A Poem a Day for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany'' (Canterbury Press) * 2017: ''Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge'' (Hodder & Stoughton) * 2018: ''In Every Corner Sing: A Poet's Corner Collection'' (Canterbury Press Norwich) * 2020: ''Heaven in Ordinary: A Poet's Corner Collection'' (Canterbury Press Norwich) * 2021: ''Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God'' (Square Halo Books) * 2023: ''Ordinary Saints: Living Everyday Life to the Glory of God'' (Square Halo Books) (as contributor) * 2023: ''Sounding Heaven and Earth: A Poet’s Corner Collection'' (Canterbury Press Norwich)

Fiction

* 2022: ''The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad'' (Rabbit Room Press) (as contributor)

References

External links

Official website

Official Twitter account

Official YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guite, Malcolm Living people 1957 births 20th-century English poets 21st-century English poets 21st-century English male writers 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English theologians 21st-century English theologians Christian apologists English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School People from Ibadan Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Chaplains of Girton College, Cambridge Nigerian people of British descent Nigerian emigrants to Canada Alumni of Durham University 20th-century English male writers Poet priests