A book written by recent Anderson University graduate’s Carson Cawthon Matthews, What the Light Returned: Poems and Prayers for Dark Nights, will soon be published.  

This will be the first book for Matthews, who has published several articles in national literary journals and in Ivy Leaves, Anderson University’s literary journal.   

“I feel like I’ve always been interested in writing and I’m a big reader. I started writing poetry my freshman year here at AU,” said Matthews, who works as the University Storyteller in the Anderson University Office of Marketing and Communication. “It was just an extension of my prayers as I started writing poetry that reflected those emotions that I was experiencing and giving them back to God. The Bible has tons of poetry—poetry of lament, celebrations. There are all kinds of emotions in the Psalms and elsewhere, so I started trying my own hand at that, and that’s how I became a poetry writer.   

Matthews’ inspiration for her book’s subtitle comes from a poem by St. John of the Cross, who wrote about the dark night of the soul. Drawing from her own personal challenges, her poetry provides a reminder of God’s presence in dark times.  

“For seven years I struggled with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) that went untreated… No one could really give me an answer to what was going on in my mind and that felt really difficult. Poetry and stories were a way I felt I could connect with God and express that lament in a healthy way,” she said. “I have been diagnosed with OCD, been able to receive treatment and experience a lot of healing in that, but I’m still very passionate about connecting with people who feel like they don’t have God’s presence with them, maybe when they’re suffering for an extended period of time and begin to doubt the Lord’s faithfulness.”  

What the Light Returned: Poems and Prayers for Dark Nights, will be published by Wipf and Stock, and will be available as a hardback, paperback and e-book through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and various bookstores.