John of the Cross Author

John of the Cross (1542 –1591) was born in Fonteveros, Spain and joined the Carmelite Order as a young man. After meeting St Teresa of Ávila, he joined her attempts at reforming the order, embracing a more stringently monastic and studious life than Carmelites then practised. Arrested, imprisoned and tortured for his beliefs, he experienced a profound spiritual awakening during his captivity which inspired an outpouring of mystical poetry and writings, including ‘The Ascent of Mount Carmel’, ‘The Dark Night’ and ‘The Spiritual Canticle’. He was canonized as a saint in 1726.

Martha Sprackland is an editor, writer and translator from the north of England. She has translated poetry by Ana Gorría, Verónica Viola Fisher and Gladys Mendía, and short fiction by Sara Mesa. In 2021 she was shortlisted for the Peirene–Stevns Translation Prize. Her debut collection of poems, CITADEL (Pavilion/LUP, 2020), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the John Pollard International Poetry Prize, and the Costa Poetry Award.