In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

Hello to Language. What does it mean to use language today? — in a time of pandemic, in the latest racist decade of a racist era, in a time where truth is questioned and language is fake if it’s labelled fake. Taking an approach from his memoir In the Shelter, Pádraig Ó Tuama will explore the power of language; power to harm and power to heal, and consider that power in conversation both with story and time. How do we tell stories about the times we are in? How long do we imagine the times we are in will be the times we are in? How do we speak today in order to consider new stories?

It is in the shelter of each other that the people live. Drawing on this Irish saying, poet, storyteller and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama relates ideas of shelter and welcome to journeys of life, using poetry, story, biblical reflection and prose to open up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world.