This small volume is presented in celebration and thanksgiving for the canonisation of Saint John Henry Newman. Its simple aim is to introduce a selection of the poems Newman chose to include in his volume Verses on Various Occasions, published in 1868 by Burns & Oates.

The examples selected for this volume are a personal choice and should in no way suggest that those left behind are inferior or of no merit. Quite the reverse, it is to be hoped that they will serve to encourage the reader to seek out the remaining one hundred and twelve and, for that matter, as much of Newman’s prose as possible.

Julien Chilcott-Monk is an author and choir director living with his wife in Winchester. Amongst others, he has written: A Calendar of Catholic Devotion, John Henry Newman and the path to Sainthood, In the Name of the Father (Canterbury Press), Advent Joy (Gracewing), Praying the Crucifix (CTS), A Companion – Finding Christ Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (ST PAULS). Julien Chilcott-Monk also composed the sacred melodrama Gerontius for two actors, chorus, soloists, and percussion.