Luci Shaw

Luci Shaw (born 1928) is a prominent poet, well-known especially within Catholic and Protestant Christian contexts. She has published ten volumes of poetry (several still in print) and numerous non-fiction books, and has edited and collaborated on multiple other works, including several with Madeleine L'Engle. Her poems are widely anthologized. Shaw usually works in free verse, and typically her poems are quite short, less than a page. Nevertheless, in tone and content, she affiliates most readily with the transcendental poets, often finding in natural details and themes the touch of the eternal or other-worldly. (See Poetry of the United States: Postcolonial Poetry)

Use in music

A number of Shaw's works have been set to music, by a variety of composers:

• Alan Cline used "God in the Dark" as the basis for a cantata.
• Knut Nystedt (Norwegian composer) did a setting for "Mary's Song," sung and recorded by the Elektra Choir of Vancouver, Canada. Album title: Child of Grace.
• Alice Parker set three of Shaw's poems for a song cycle.
• Frederick Frahm composed settings for solo and choir for three of Shaw's poems, "Star Song," "Down He Came From Up," and "Heart Stable."
• Ed Henderson (Canadian) composed a choral setting for "Star Song."
• Roland Fudge (English) composed a choral setting for "One,"  "Celestial Light," and "Steadfast Taper."