Otto Bam is a student of literature and theology, a musician, and an aspiring poet from Stellenbosch, South Africa. He holds a master’s degree in English Studies from the University of Stellenbosch and is currently studying towards a master’s degree in Religion and Literature at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on the role of what has been called “liturgical language” and “ritual poetics” in literature from the Romantic era through to the Postmodern. In his most recent work, he investigates the place and function of prayer and ritual in the work of Seamus Heaney and T. S. Eliot respectively. Otto believes that valuable scholarship demands a creative response to the encounter with art, and is committed to cultivating a poetic sense, rooted in the practice of his faith, alongside his academic endeavours. As a musician, Otto has released a full-length album, an EP and multiple singles under the alias Oddo Bam. He is currently working on new music that draws on the liturgy of the Episcopal church he attends in Edinburgh, translating it into his characteristically diaphanous singer-songwriter sound. Otto is passionate about bringing together theology and the arts, having served as organiser of and speaker at Krux's much-loved annual artist gathering in 2021.