The concept of “lectio divina” is well-known, especially in Christian contemplative circles: the ‘divine reading’ of scripture and other texts that involves levels of engagement deeper than the merely intellectual and analytical. It often involves letting texts speak to us, or letting ourselves be spoken by a text, beyond reading for content and ideas. This talk explores how the writing of religious poetry can involve similar drives and energies. Does contemplative poetry write itself? What do we make of the words between the words, the silences and rests under the textual content? It will draw on both global examples of religious poetry, from multiple faith traditions, as well as the speaker’s own writing as an award-winning poet, interfaith dialogue facilitator and enthusiast of contemplative practice—in addition to his day job as Director of Digital Transformation Education at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.