Artist and poet Roger Wagner presents a selection of Psalms as they have never been seen before, newly translated and each accompanied by an illustration inviting the reader to pause and contemplate. Roger Wagner's translations faithfully evoke the world of the Psalms and the experience of those who composed and sang them, while his illustrations interpret their rich imagery against the backdrop of our world. 

In the Hebrew bible the psalms are entitled Sepher Tehillim – ‘The Book of Praises’, and praise is the fixed song that sounds throughout the collection. Though praise is surrounded by many other voices that contradict and challenge, whether complaint, lament, anger, pain, guilt, desolation or longing, its underlying note remains unshakeable. 

Demonstrating the continuing beauty, honesty and power of the Psalms through the centuries, The Book of Praises is the work of one of today’s outstanding religious artists and poets.

Roger Wagner read English at Oxford and studied art at the Royal College of Art. He is co-author of The Penultimate Curiosity (OUP), a major work exploring the relationship between science and religion, plus a number of poetry volumes published by Enitharmon. http://www.rogerwagner.co.uk/