Voices of Iona

In the sixth century, St. Columba founded a retreat off the west coast of Scotland on the island of Iona. Here monastics and pilgrims could find healing and meet with God. For generations to come, Iona served as a focal point throughout the British Isles as a community of work, prayer, and solitude—a meeting place between heaven and earth. Saints and sinners were restored in this island sanctuary, inspiring great works of faith and great works of art. The poems in this volume depict vignettes of pilgrims at various stages on their journey toward Iona. The author, an American expatriate, composed these poems both as a reflection of his own experiences in the British Isles and as votive offerings to prompt interior spiritual pilgrimage within the readers. It is through poetry, Fullman believes, that we, too, can rediscover ourselves and meet with God. For those who have ever left home, or felt estranged in their own home, these poems speak to the heart of displacement and dislocation—and of finding belonging in an unfamiliar land.