Dr. Jacob Stratman, professor of English at John Brown University, will have a reading and book signing for his newly published collection of poems, “What I Have I Offer with Two Hands” on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Simmons Great Hall at JBU.

Stratman, who also serves as chair of JBU’s division of humanities and social sciences, began writing the poems in this collection in 2015. The collection illustrates the divine in everyday moments — the hills and creeks of the Ozarks, the Eucharist, his son’s Batman toys in the tub or the author’s own childhood.

“Each poem, in some way, tends to explore the same three subjects: parenting, the natural world, and God,” Stratman said. “In writing these poems, I’m trying to rest in the difficulties and complexities of raising kids in a polarizing world. What can love look like?”

“What I Have I Offer with Two Hands” is published through Cascade Books’ Poiema Poetry Series and is available for sale from major online book sellers.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas’ top-ranked university (The Wall Street Journal) and top-ranked regional university (U.S. News Best Colleges, 2019), JBU enrolls more than 2,300 students from 36 states and 59 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers more than 40 undergraduate majors, with top programs including engineering, nursing, family and human services, biology, graphic design and construction management. Sixteen graduate programs are available in the areas of business, counseling, cybersecurity, education and higher education.