And There Was Light

Fresh, original and in simple language, each poem in this collection speaks in a different voice. Innkeeper and King Herod, Pharisee and tax collector, Jairus' daughter and anonymous bystanders take it in turns to give their eyewitness accounts of part of the unfolding New Testament story, providing a guide to the sequence of events described in the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Together, the poems form a series of plays for voices, and work well as a framework for worship at Christmas, in Holy Week, at Easter and Whitsun, or at services of healing.

Elizabeth Lavers writes many different kinds of poetry. "and there was Light" has grown from "Nativity", the first of her plays for voices, written for use in church at any time from Advent to Epiphany. Her plays have been performed in many churches, including the Anglican church in Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand. Her poems, including some secular poems, are regularly published by the Anglican Theological Review. Elizabeth's husband, Brian, is a keen sailor, and she is Club Poet at the Royal Thames Yacht Club in London. She was delighted when one of her poems, "Moonstream", was selected to ride around Guernsey for six months, inside a bus. Elizabeth has lived in Libya, Venezuela, Oman and Nigeria, as well as in France, Holland and England. She enjoys translating poetry from several languages into English verse.