Acclaimed poet-theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama joining YDS faculty
Yale Divinity School Dean Greg Sterling sent the following announcement to the YDS community today.
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Dear Colleagues,
It pleases me enormously to inform you of an exciting new appointment to the YDS faculty. Poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama will join us on July 1st as Professor in the Practice of Spirituality.
A graduate of the Pontifical College of Maynooth (B.A. Div.) and Queen’s University Belfast (M.Th.), Pádraig earned his Ph.D. in Theology through Creative Practice at the University of Glasgow, exploring poetry, Irishness, and religion.
He has worked at the intersection of peacebuilding, theology, and spirituality for many years. He led Corrymeela, Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation community, from 2014 to 2019. His book Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community, a widely used exploration of spirituality through close reading of the gospels, was published during this time. His ninth and tenth books, both bestsellers—Kitchen Hymns and 44 Poems on Being with Each Other—were published in early 2025. To give you an idea of what we mean by bestseller, the former has already sold more than 18,000 copies.
His impact on individuals around the world is best grasped via his “Poetry Unbound” podcasts. He explains a poem in each episode to an average audience of 60,000 with 20 million lifetime downloads. The podcast has understandably won a Gold Medal in Arts and Culture from the Signal Awards.
Dr. Ó Tuama’s reach and accolades are truly impressive. His case for a faculty appointment is the only one I have ever brought, either here at Yale or at the university where I previously served, that included letters not only from a Pulitzer-prize winning poet (Jericho Brown) but from a rock star (The Edge from U2). To cite one of his recommendations, Pádraig as a poet belongs in the company of luminaries like Gerard Manley Hopkins, John Donne, and Thomas Merton. His poems, the recommendation states, “wrestle with belief even as they illuminate the sacred, what poet John Betjeman called ‘honest doubt,’ that which Merton argued as an essential of faith.”
You can access more biographical details and a comprehensive list of Pádraig’s books here. I highly recommend his autobiography In the Shelter, which offers stories from his life that illustrate the meaning of the aphorism: “We do not tell stories as they are; we tell stories as we are.”
Dr. Tuama’s c.v., skill, and talent speak for themselves, but I am confident his wonderful ability to relate with others as a communicator and human being will make him a treasured colleague and teacher for many years to come.
Please join me in welcoming Pádraig Ó Tuama to the YDS and Yale community!
Best wishes,
Greg Sterling