Martha Sprackland
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Martha Sprackland
@marrrtha.bsky.social
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Editor, writer and translator. The Poems of St John of the Cross forthcoming (Penguin Classics, 2026)

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/462137/dark-night-by-cross-st-john-of-the/9780241699294

marthasprackland.co.uk
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marrrtha.bsky.social
Three years of work on this — my new translation of the poetry and selected prose of sixteen-century Spanish mystic St John of the Cross for Penguin Classics.

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You can preorder it via all the usual bookshops or links here. www.penguin.co.uk/books/462137...
Penguin Books webpage showing the cover of Dark Night: Poetry and Selected Prose of St John of the Cross, with a cover detail by El Greco. A quote from one of the poems: ‘Oh living flame of love, how tenderly you scorch me’ The blurb text: The poetry of the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic, St John of the Cross, has inspired and consoled for hundreds of years, influencing writers from James Joyce to Seamus Heaney, Geoffrey Hill to T.S. Eliot. This new edition of his essential works, in a sensitive and luminous translation by Martha Sprackland, gathers John of the Cross’s complete poems and a selection of his prose, including from his extended commentary on the poem ‘Dark Night’. In his immediate, sensual writing, we see a soul searching for meaning and union with the divine: both meek and bold, deserving and undeserving, oscillating between light and dark, soaring and falling, desperation and salvation. Dark Night gives us a picture of faith at once confronting and inspiriting, and of the power of words as a means of spiritual transcendence. Translated by Martha Sprackland, with an introduction by Colin Thompson.
October 29, 2025 at 10:02 AM
marrrtha.bsky.social
Little piece on darkness by Sprackland mère, ahead of the publication of her new book, Night Vision.

www.penguin.co.uk/books/453167...

@theobserveruk.bsky.social
Text of article in today’s Observer, headlined ‘Our fear of the dark is built in — but we need it.’ Continuation of article Cover of ‘Night Vision: In search of the true dark’ by Jean Sprackland
October 26, 2025 at 9:16 AM
marrrtha.bsky.social
Quorabouros
Screenshot of an email preview from Quora, reading: ‘¿Cómo se dice "cómo se dice" en inglés? Quieres saber cómo se dice "cómo se dice" en inglés? ¡Es una frase…’
April 1, 2025 at 7:29 AM
marrrtha.bsky.social
Really missing a trick not having a default ‘Every 28 days’, Google Calendar
Screenshot of the ‘repeat every’ options on a Google calendar: does not repeat, Every day, Every week, Every month, Every year
January 3, 2025 at 7:22 PM
marrrtha.bsky.social
This is an extrrrremely long shot but does anyone have a copy of Peter Godman's Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance I can borrow?
A picture of a hardcover copy of Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance by Peter Godman. The book is blue with faded black text and a gold illustration showing figures of kings and gods.
November 29, 2024 at 10:12 AM
marrrtha.bsky.social
New post up on Substack, about St John of the Cross, my toddler’s penchant for purple, and half-remembered A Level Psychology studies.

open.substack.com/pub/parallel...
November 26, 2024 at 12:42 PM