“David Craig’s poetry––full of life, spontaneity, and God––has always brought joy to my heart. But At the Bottom of the Year opens up life in a way that scatters God like shards of light through a fallen, but hopeful world. Warm, human, and seasoned by a puckish sense of humor, this volume of poetry could not have arrived at a more auspicious moment. Drink it to the dregs.”
—MICHAEL MARTIN
editor of JESUS THE IMAGINATION: A Journal of Spiritual Revolution
“David Craig has done it again, this time giving us a fascinating collection of Advent poems in the tradition of the ancient ghazel, but with a sense of the dailiness of life in our moment as husband, father, and now, grandfather. And here’s the thing: it’s a dailiness sparkling with the sacramental, alive with the presence of Jesus the King walking or gliding past the modest homes and Kentucky Fried Chicken diner in a dream world we inhabit in all its sadness and disappointment, but also its brilliant wit, and, yes, that mysterious sense of heading home on the journey each of us walks.”
—PAUL MARIANI
poet, biographer, author of Ordinary Time
“For David Craig, God is in the details. His world is beautifully sacramental, and so is his poetry. In his poems, frost-covered blades of grass convey grace, as do metal casings, pinecones in the snow, other people (especially those close to him), and every carefully-chosen word. Expecting the wondrous is what Advent is all about, and so is every one of these poems. David Craig has a gift for seeing the infinite ways in which matter and spirit are intertwined, and how expectations of redemption fill every moment. A wonderful and poignant celebration of the Word made flesh, perfectly laced with humor.”
—CARLOS EIRE
historian, author of Waiting for Snow in Havana
DAVID CRAIG is winding up a 34-year career as a professor at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he’s been blessed to have taught creative writing, literature, and composition. This is his thirtieth book. (He’s ready for the sunset, but he needs to figure out how to unfurl a headsail.)
