Vita Poetica Journal

Barry Casey reads his poem "Shekinah," and Frank Paino reads his poem "The One True Miracle."Barry Casey is the author of Wandering, Not Lost, a collection of essays on faith, doubt, and mystery, published by Wipf and Stock (2019). His poetry has appeared in Fauxmoir, Half and One, Humans of the World, Lighthouse Weekly, Patheos, Pensive Journal, Rockvale Review, Spectrum Magazine, The Dewdrop, The Ulu Review, and Vita Poetica. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from Claremont Graduate University and writes from Burtonsville, Maryland.Frank Paino has had four full-length books published, including, Dark Octaves (2025), winner of the Longleaf Press Book Prize. He has received a Pushcart Prize, The Cleveland Arts Prize in Literature, and an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council.

Sharlee Mullins Glenn reads her poem "Owl Light," and Christina Ellison reads her poem "My mother points this out like it's something lighthearted."Sharlee Mullins Glenn has published poetry, essays, short stories, articles, and criticism in periodicals as varied as Women's Studies, The Southern Literary Journal, Segullah, BYU Studies Quarterly, Ladybug, and The New York Times. She is also an award-winning author of children's books and a contributing editor for Wayfare. Christina Ellison is a fiction and poetry writer from Texas. Born and raised north of Houston, she currently lives within the cornfields of Nebraska. She is a fiction editor for Iron Horse Literary Review and New American Press, and her work can be found in Blood+Honey, fifth wheel press, The Hyacinth Review, and others.

Isabel Chenot reads her poem "incarnation at Manafon," and Matthew E. Henry reads his poem "waking with nightmares," both from our Summer 2026 issue.Isabel Chenot has loved, memorized, and practiced poetry all her remembered life. Some of her poems are collected in The Joseph Tree, available from Wiseblood Books.Matthew E. Henry (MEH) is an educator, essayist, occasional fiction writer, and author of seven poetry collections, most recently Promises to Keep (Wayfarer Books, 2026). Editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal, a poetry editor at American Poetry Journal, and creative nonfiction editor at Porcupine Literary, MEH's publications include Anglican Theological Review, Massachusetts Review, Mom Egg Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Ploughshares, Stone Circle Review, Terrain, Vita Poetica, and The Worcester Review. MEH earned an MFA yet continued to spend money he didn't have completing an MA in theology and a PhD in education. He writes about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground at www.MEHPoeting.com.

Vita Poetica Interviews Editor Christopher Honey speaks with the poet Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto. Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is the author of The Naming (University of Nebraska Press, 2025). His works have appeared or forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Transition Magazine, Massachusetts Review, Joyland, Oxford Poetry, and World Literature Today.

En Lin Koh reads her poem "holy communion," and Richard Chess reads his poem "Field of Vision," from our Summer 2026 issue. En Lin Koh is an emerging poet. Her work is published or forthcoming in Ekstasis and Modern Haiku, among others.ichard Chess is the author of five books of poetry, including The Loneliest Monk (Orison Books 2026). He served as a founding member of the board of Yetzirah: a  hearth for Jewish poetry. He directed UNC Asheville's Center for Jewish Studies for 30 years.

Ragan Sutterfield invites us to watch, listen, and marvel at the wonder of birds through "The Spiritual Practice of Birding."Ragan Sutterfield is a writer and Episcopal priest from Arkansas. His most recent book is Watch and Wonder: Birding as a Spiritual Practice. He writes regularly at thewaywepractice.com.

Jeannine Marie Pitas reads her poem "My friends respond to my grief in the weeks after K's death."Jeannine Marie Pitas is a writer, teacher, Spanish-English literary translator, and editor. Her most recent poetry book, Or/And, was published by Paraclete Press in 2023. She lives in Pittsburgh, teaches at Saint Vincent College, and serves as an editor at Eulalia Books as well as Presence: A Journal of Catholic Poetry.

Aizaiah G. Yong reads his contemplative practice invitation "Creating a Time Map."Rev. Dr. Aizaiah G. Yong, PhD, (he/him) is a scholar-practitioner of spirituality and mysticism and ordained pentecostal clergy in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) with strong ties to the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) & the City of Refuge UCC (Oakland, CA). His life and work are deeply rooted in the lived experience of navigating complex identities bridging academic theology, executive stewardship, and psychospiritual care to create spaces of radical belonging. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Collegeville Institute (CI) for Ecumenical and Cultural Research. At this historic interdisciplinary residential research center, he advances intercultural dialogue and cross-sector innovation through rhythms of contemplation, community discernment, first-person reflection, and evidence-informed approaches to promote collective healing.

Hilary Sallick reads her poems "Inexorable" and "There's beauty and time" from our current Summer issue. Hilary Sallick is the author of Love is a Shore (Lily Poetry Books, 2023), long-listed for the Massachusetts Book Award; and Asking the Form (Cervena Barva Press, 2020). Her poems appear or are forthcoming in The Inflectionist Review; Pensive; January House; SoFloPoJo; and elsewhere. A teacher with a longtime focus on adult literacy, she lives in Somerville, MA.

Graham Bier reads his review, "Seeking Reality through Sound," which is a review of the book Listening to Eternity: The Music, Spirituality, and Creative World of Composer Tommie Haglund by Aram Yardumian."Graham Bier is based in the Philadelphia area where he directs music at Bryn Athyn Cathedral and the Reading Choral Society, serves as a research associate at Bryn Mawr College and lecturer at Bryn Athyn College, and performs as a professional singer. He studied at Oberlin College and earned an MA in vocal performance and a PhD in musicology from the University of York.

Stephen Haven reads his poems "Deadwood" and "Old Cambridge Cemetery" from our Summer 2026 issue.Stephen Haven's fourth collection of poems, The Flight from Meaning, was published by Slant Books in 2025. His most recent earlier collection, The Last Sacred Place in North America, was selected by T.R. Hummer for the New American Prize in 2012. His poems have appeared recently in Blackbird, The Common, Vox Populi, Verse Daily, The Montreal Review, Live Encounters, and elsewhere.

Alison Lock reads her essay "Carnac Dawn" from our Summer 2026 issue.Alison Lock is a poet and short fiction writer whose work explores the meeting of inner life and landscape, seeking the spiritual within everyday experience. Her poetic sequence “Lure” was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. She has published several collections and pamphlets, most recently Thrift (Palewell Press, 2024). A trained facilitator of Life Writing for Transformation, she lives in North Wales and leads Poetry for Wellbeing sessions.

Co-Editor Caroline Langston introduces our new Summer 2026 issue with her letter "There Is No Bottom."

Maura H. Harrison shares about the art quilts featured in "The Needle's Pierce," in our Spring 2026 issue.Maura H. Harrison is a writer and artist from Fredericksburg, VA.

Interviews Editor Christopher Honey speaks with ballerina Dorothy A. Rogers-Walker about the language of dance. Dorothy A. Rogers-Walker is a classically trained ballerina and the artistic director of St. Mark's Dance Studio, where she has been a dedicated leader since 1983. She began as a substitute teacher and choreographer and now leads the studio while continuing to teach ballet and pointe.She trained at the Dance Theatre of Harlem and performed with Point Park University and the Capitol Ballet through the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet. She also served as Ballet Mistress for the St. Mark's Dance Company in Prague.

Annette Sisson reads her poems "Gravel at Every Turn" and "Oceans of Salty Sky."Annette Sisson's poems appear in The Penn Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, Rust & Moth, Cider Press Review, West Trade Review, and many other journals and anthologies. Her second book, Winter Sharp with Apples, was published by Terrapin Books (2024), and her third book manuscript, Rhizomes and Bones, is currently seeking a publisher. In 2019 she won The Porch Writers' Collective's poetry prize, and since then she has won and placed in numerous contests.

On the podcast today, Christine Hiester invites us to listen for the Holy Spirit through found poetry: "The hour or two we spend sifting through words is a holy practice, one that allows the Spirit to speak in and to the deepest parts of us." "Found Poetry as Spiritual Practice" is included in our Spring 2026 issue.Christine Hiester is a spiritual companion and creative practice guide who believes in the power of deep listening to heal and restore the world, one conversation at a time. Sometimes these deep conversations are shared over coffee, and sometimes they happen in color, metaphor, form, or song. However they happen, Christine wants to be right in the middle of them. She loves to be found on Instagram @shapingtheriver or at her website www.shapingtheriver.com.

Joshua Coben reads his poem "The Spatter of Waterfalls," and E. R. Skulmoski reads her poem "Hymn (3)." Joshua Coben is the author of two poetry collections, Maker of Shadows (Texas Review Press, 2010), winner of the X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, and Night Chaser (David Robert Books, 2020), a finalist for the Vassar Miller Prize, the New American Poetry Prize, and the Donald Justice Poetry Prize. He lives in Massachusetts. Visit him at joshuacoben.com. E. R. Skulmoski lives in the Interior of British Columbia with her husband and four children. Her work has been published in Ekstasis, Barely South Review, and Voice & Verse, among others.

Pico Iyer introduces us to his contemplative practice of a daily writing meditation. We invite you to choose some daily practice you are already doing in your life and begin to view it through the lens of contemplation over the coming days and weeks.Pico Iyer is the author of 17 books, translated into 23 languages, including The Lady and the Monk, The Art of Stillness and, most recently, a work about silence, monasticism and wildfire, Aflame. Vita Poetica published a review of Aflame in our Spring 2025 issue.

Lindsey Weishar reads her poem "Variations on Mercy," and Daniel Thomas reads his poem "The Other Life."Lindsey Weishar holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has contributed to a variety of outlets including Verily Magazine, Dappled Things, and the Word on Fire blog. Her chapbook, Matchbook Night, was published by Leaf Press (Canada) in 2018.Daniel Thomas's third poetry collection, River of Light, was published by Shanti Arts Publishing in 2025. His previous books are Leaving the Base Camp at Dawn and Deep Pockets. He has published poems in many journals, including Southern Poetry Review, Nimrod, Poetry Ireland Review, Amethyst Review, Radix, Atlanta Review, and others. More info at danielthomaspoetry.com

Daniel Cooperrider reads his essay "Cloud Study" from our Spring 2026 issue.Daniel Cooperrider is a writer, ecotheologian, and pastor in the United Church of Christ. He is the author of Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You, Gold Winner in the 2023 Nautilus Book Awards, and Live Each Season as It Passes. Cooperrider and family are based on the edge of the driftless region of Madison, WI.

Brian G. Phipps reads his poem "Moving Day," and Andreas Fleps reads his poem "The Temple."Brian G. Phipps is the author of Before the Burning Bush (Univ. of St. Katherine Press, 2018), a collection of poems. His poetry has appeared in several journals, most recently in Presence and St. Katherine Review. “Moving Day” is part of a work-in-progress collection on the feasts of the church year and the seasons of the solar year as experienced by a person with seasonal affective disorder.Andreas Fleps is a poet/writer based in the suburbs of Chicago. He studied theology and philosophy at Dominican University, and his debut collection of poems entitled Well into the Night (via Energion Publications) was released at the end of 2020. His work has appeared in publications such as Marathon Literary Review, The Rappahannock Review, Waxing & Waning, Wild Roof Journal, The Windhover, and the award-winning anthology Glissando!, among others.

Jeffrey-Michael Kane reads his essay "Cinctura" from our Spring 2026 issue.Jeffrey-Michael Kane is the author of Quiet Brilliance: What Employers Miss About Neurodivergent Talent and How to See It (CollectiveInk UK). Disabled, he writes from this learned experience as an ASD-1. His prose work has been published in more than three dozen literary journals & magazines, including Plough, Vita Poetica, Dappled Things, and Metonym. He lives with his dogs and family in New Orleans, where he works as an attorney.

Randy Koch reads his poem "Unfaithful," and Mary Lanham reads her poem "Survivor's guilt," from our Spring 2026 issue.Randy Koch is the author of four collections of poems: Composing Ourselves (Fithian Press, 2002), This Splintered Horse (Finishing Line Press, 2011), and forthcoming in 2026, both Against the Risen Flesh (Alternating Current Press) and Amends (Finishing Line Press). His poems have appeared in The Caribbean Writer, Chiricú Journal, The Texas Observer, Revista Interamericana, Sundial Magazine, and many others. A longtime columnist for LareDOS: A Journal of the Borderlands, he earned an MFA at the University of Wyoming and twice has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.Mary Lanham is a queer writer, editor, and collage artist based in Minnesota. She is originally from the South; her accent is still around if you know where to look. Mary's poetry has appeared most recently in Sheila-Na-Gig and Amethyst Review, and her online home is inspiritedword.com.

Jessica Hudson reads her review, "The Still-ness of Space," a review of the poetry collection Lost Cities by Valencia Robin (Persea Books, 2025) from our Spring 2026 issue.Jessica Hudson (she/her) currently lives and libraries in Albuquerque. Her work has been published in DIAGRAM, New Delta Review, Quarterly West, and elsewhere.

Caleb Horowitz reads his poems "Where is that boat going?" and "We are wearing history heavy like a raincoat" from our Spring 2026 issue.Caleb Horowitz is a North Carolinian poet, teacher, and penguin enthusiast. When he is not chaperoning dozens of students across the country for high school speech and debate tournaments, you can find him reading or writing poems about whales. You can find more of Horowitz's writing with Jewish Book Council, Gashmius, Psaltery & Lyre, Tiger Leaping Review, and Calul Journal.

Darius Stewart reads his review, "Permeable Devotion": A Review of The Natural Order of Things by Donika Kelly (Graywolf Press, 2025).Darius Stewart is the author of Intimacies in Borrowed Light: Poems (EastOver Press, 2022) and Be Not Afraid of My Body: A Lyrical Memoir (Belt Publishing, 2024), which was named a 2025 Stonewall Book Award–Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Honoree and a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Gay Memoir/Biography. His essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Arkansas International, Brink, Bat City Review, Brooklyn Review, Colorado Review, Fourth Genre, and Salamander, among others, and received a Notable Essay distinction in Best American Essays 2022. He lives in Iowa City with his dog, Gizmo.

Co-Editor Caroline Langston introduces our new Spring 2026 issue with her letter, "Be Quiet Like the Tree." Tune in for what's to come, including a contemplative practice by Pico Iyer, essay from Daniel Cooperrider, three reviews of poetry collections for National Poetry Month, new poetry by Daniel Thomas, Joshua Coben, Marci Rae Johnson, and many others.

Evan Leslie reads his poems "Ricercar (rēCHərˈkär) music composition derived from the verb ricercare" and "Evensong," from our Winter 2026 issue.Evan Leslie grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now lives in Houston, Texas, with his husband, Ryan, and their rescue pit bull, Rimbaud (formerly Rambo). A cellist and arts educator, he directs the University of Houston's Community Arts Programs, the Texas Music Festival, and previously served as Artistic Producer at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. His poems have appeared in The Pinch, Troublemaker Firestarter, and New Verse News.

Ali Beheler reads her poem "Vessel," and Bern Mulvey reads his poem "Snowfall at Aojima Shrine, New Year's Day."Ali Beheler's recent work appears in The Shore, SRPR, Rogue Agent, Tupelo Quarterly, Harpur Palate, ballast journal, and elsewhere. Winner of the SRPR Editor's Prize (2024) and the Milton J. Kessler Memorial Prize in Poetry (2025), as well as residencies at Sundress Academy for the Arts and Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, she teaches at Hastings College in Hastings, NE. Find her at www.alibeheler.com.Bern Mulvey lived in Japan for seventeen years. His first book, The Fat Sheep Everyone Wants, won the Cleveland State University Poetry Center Prize, and his second book, Deep Snow Country, won the FIELD Poetry Prize. He lives now in Arizona and teaches writing at Eastern Arizona College.

In this contemplative practice, "Lectio of Belonging: Resting in the Voice of Love," John Farrelly guides us in a meditation on Psalm 100:3. John Farrelly has been married to Mary for 40 years and is a dad and grandad. He is a Special Needs Assistant working with 5th- and 6th-grade children with autism. He is a spiritual director and coordinator of the Guided Prayer Centre at Knock Shrine in Ireland. He leads contemplative retreats and founded the Silence@Six online prayer community that gather each day for 30 minutes of silent prayer in The Online Meditation Chapel. He contributes regularly to Contemplative Outreach's Word of the Week reflections and is just now birthing a new Substack called Living from The Quiet Heart.

Liza Moore reads her poem "Under Van Gogh's Stars," and Johanna Caton, O.S.B., reads her poem "Little Dog" from our current Winter issue. Liza Moore is an artist and storyteller who resides with her husband and son in Round Rock, TX. She has created three children's books, and some of her artwork, poetry, and essays have been published in various journals, including Fathom Mag, Ekstasis Magazine, EcoTheo Review, Apple Valley Review, Thimble Lit Mag, Humana Obscura, St. Katherine Review, and Calla Press. To learn more about Liza and her creative work, please visit https://campsite.bio/liza_moore_art.Johanna Caton, O.S.B, is a Benedictine nun of Minster Abbey, in Kent, England. Her poems have appeared in a number of publications, including The Christian Century, St. Austin Review, Ekphrastic Review, Amethyst Review, One Art, Today's American Catholic, Fathom, Fare Forward, Windhover, The Catholic Poetry Room, and in two anthologies published by Amethyst Press: All Shall be Well, Poems for Julian of Norwich and Thin Places and Sacred Spaces. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee.

In this episode, Luke Wood guides us in the contemplative practice of silence, from our current Winter issue. We invite you to find a quiet spot during a pause in your day to engage in this meditation.⁠Luke Wood is a writer and artist who serves in the fields of spiritual formation, ministry, and counseling. His work explores the integration of spiritual formation and psychology, helping others experience healing and transformation. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their three children.

Trevor Cunnington reads his poem "Banlieue Blues," and Richard Jackson reads his poem "The Centurion's Report," from our current Winter 2026 issue.Trevor Cunnington is a writer/artist/educator who lives in Toronto. They are the poetry editor of KayTell Ink, and their work has appeared in Poetry Super Highway, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Literary Heist, BlazeVox, God's Cruel Joke, and others. You can find them on Instagram @trevorcunnington.Richard Jackson is the author of eighteen books of poems as well as a dozen of essays, interviews, translations, and editions. Winner of Guggenheim, Fulbright, NE, NEH, and The Order Of Freedom from the President of Slovenia, his poems have been translated into seventeen languages.

Rachel Grandey reads her review, "'A kind of tribute to what we are': A Review of Marilynne Robinson's Reading Genesis." Rachel Grandey is a UK-based doctoral researcher in Extinction Studies, exploring religious perspectives around environment and culture in South East Asia. Her writing has featured in Agape Review, Amethyst Review, Paper Dragon and Monk in the World. She can be found on social media as @RachelGrandey or at rachelgrandey.wordpress.com.

Temima Weissmann reads her poem "It Happened," and Dion O'Reilly reads her poem "It Is What It Is."Temima Weissmann is an eighteen-year-old poet from Passaic, NJ. She was the Editor-in-Chief of her high school literary journal Sambatyon, and was awarded The Hersh & Fannie Fluss Memorial Award for Excellence in Hebrew Literature at her high school graduation. Previously published in The Lerhaus, Temima's poetry explores the presence of religion and faith in everyday life.Dion O'Reilly is the author of Sadness of the Apex Predator (Cornerstone 2025), Ghost Dogs (Terrapin Books 2020); and Limerence, a 2025 finalist for the Floating Bridge Chapbook Competition. Her work appears in Cincinnati Review, Rhino, Alaska Quarterly Review, Gulf Coast, The Sun, and Rattle. A ​podcaster at The Hive Poetry Collective and co-editor of Ent•Trance Journal, she splits her time between California and Washington.

In "Making Sense of Things in Community," poet Jon Bishop speaks with Vita Poetica Interviews Editor Christopher Honey about the influence of his Catholic faith and monastic community on his writing, teaching, and intellectual life.Jon Bishop holds an MFA in poetry from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. His work has appeared in both print and online, and he lives in New Hampshire with his family.

On the podcast today, Kelly Sawin reads her poems "In the Beginning" and "Study in Light" from our current Winter issue.⁠Kelly Sawin's work has appeared in Ekstasis Magazine, The Windhover, River Teeth: Beautiful Things, the Appalachian Review, Susurrus, the Virginia Literary Review, and elsewhere. She was a finalist in the 2024 National Poetry Series, a semifinalist in the 2025 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry and in the 2024 Orison Poetry Prize. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband and three small children.

K.D. Battle reads his essay "In Defense of Bad Meditation" from our Winter 2026 issue.K.D. Battle is a multi-genre writer and teacher living in Kalamazoo—he's a father, Navy submarine veteran, and a composer of musical theatre, and more. Battle's poems, stories, and essays have been published in anthologies and literary journals like White Wall Review, Line of Advance, and Vita Poetica, and he recently won the Wright Memorial Writing Award. He earned his MFA from Western Michigan University, where he is now pursuing a PhD and serves as the nonfiction editor for Third Coast. Battle is a Buddhist and invites you to walk the Dao with kindness, humility, and grit.

Mary B. Moore reads her poem "Everything in the Dream is Me, Says Jung," and James B. Nicola reads his poem "Epiphany XIV: Nigh." ⁠Mary B. Moore's newest poetry collection Amanda Chimera, won Madville Publishing's Arthur Smith prize and came out January, 2025. Prior poetry books include Dear If (Orison Books 2022), a contest finalist; Flicker (Dogfish Head Prize, 2016); The Book Of Snow (Cleveland State U Poetry Center, 1997); and prize-winning chapbooks Amanda and the Man Soul and Eating the Light. Poems have appeared lately in New Letters, Catamaran, POETRY, I-70 Review, South Dakota Review, Birmingham Poetry Review (BPR), NELLE, Nimrod, and Prairie Schooner. ⁠⁠James B. Nicola is the author of eight collections of poetry, the latest three being Fires of Heaven: Poems of Faith and Sense, Turns & Twists, and Natural Tendencies. His nonfiction book Playing the Audience: The Practical Actor's Guide to Live Performance won a Choice magazine award. A graduate of Yale, he has received a Dana Literary Award, two Willow Review awards, Storyteller's People's Choice award, one Best of Net, one Rhysling, and eleven Pushcart nominations—for which he feels stunned and grateful.⁠

Chris Weigel explores dementia as a bardo state in her essay "As the Mind Dissolves" from our Winter 2026 issue.Chris Weigel is a professor of philosophy at Utah Valley University, where she has been teaching for over 20 years. She received her bachelor's degrees in music performance and philosophy from Lawrence University and her Ph.D. in philosophy from Temple University. She has published academic papers on confabulation, free will, and most recently, on the ethics of caregiving for people with dementia. She lives in Salt Lake City with her family and her mom, whom she has been taking care of since 2018.

Co-Editor Caroline Langston introduces our new Winter 2026 issue. Tune in for a preview of what's to come, and listen to Caroline's letter, "⁠⁠Frozen Fire."

On this Giving Tuesday, we invite you to support Vita Poetica with a tax-deductible donation. Gifts of any amount help us sustain our work to uplift artists of faith and enliven spiritual conversations through the arts. Thank you!This multimedia piece features Onyeka Ndukwe's poetry and music, "Lay Me Down Gently." Onyeka Ndukwe, a Canadian artist currently residing in Ottawa, Ontario, is a lyrical poet whose work has graced the pages of esteemed publications. His first poem titled "Trust Half Spent" was featured in the Praised by December anthology (2021) published by Wingless Dreamer. Beyond his poetic endeavors, Onyeka is an avid history reader and occasionally indulges in anime, forging a creative path that blends artistry and intellectual curiosity.

Julia Lisella reads her poem "Amulet," and Lisa López Smith reads her poem "Emigrant."Julia Lisella's latest collection of poems, Our Lively Kingdom (Bordighera Press), was named a finalist in the 2023 Paterson Book Prize and Grand Prize Finalist and Poetry Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. Her other collections include Always, Terrain, and the chapbook, Love Song Hiroshima. Her poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Alaska Quarterly, The Common, Nimrod, Pangyrus and many others. She has received writing residencies at MacDowell, Millay and the Vermont Center for the Arts. She teaches at Regis College and co-curates the Italian-American Writers Association Literary Reading Series in Boston. For more, see www.julialisellapoetry.com.Lisa López Smith is a mother and farmer based in Mexico. Her poems and essays have appeared in over sixty literary journals and have been nominated for the Pushcart, Best New Poets, and Best of the Net. She has a chapbook published by Grayson Books and a forthcoming collection from Nightwood Editions.

Ellen June Wright discusses her artwork featured in our current Autumn issue. ⁠View the art and read her artist statement here⁠.Ellen June Wright, an artist, photographer and poet, was born in England but raised in New Jersey. Her artwork revolves around the power of color and the emotions and memories they evoke. She is inspired by the works of Stanley Whitney, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Howardena Pindell and Frank Bowling. Her watercolors have been published by Gulf Stream Magazine, Wild Roof Journal, Burningword Literary Journal, Hole In The Head Review, Oyster River Pages, Kitchen Table Quarterly, NOVUS Literary Journal and others. To see more visit https://8-ellen-wright.pixels.com/

Sheri Reda reads her poem "Going Somewhere" from our Autumn 2025 issue.Sheri Reda lives in Chicago, where she works as a celebrant, public speaker, and youth librarian. Her poems have appeared in Eocene Journal of Environmental Humanities (2025, 2023), The Nature of Our Times (2024), and the award-winning Dear Human at the Edge of Time (Paloma Press, 2024). She is the author of Stubborn (LocofoChaps/Moria Press, 2017). Her collection entitled Diaspora will be published by Finishing Line Press in 2026.

Natalya Raduenz discusses her artwork I Am Near (featured on our Autumn 2025 cover) and Zeit.los!, both part of her Echoes of Infinity series. View the art and read her artist statement here.Natalya Raduenz (b. 1980, Ukraine) is a metamodern artist and iconographer based in Germany. Her art combines traditional and modern methods and creates multi-layered, symbolic pictorial spaces that deal with themes such as transformation, spirituality, and the intersection of cultures. Her works have been exhibited and honored worldwide and are held in private collections across Europe.

Megan Willome reads her poem "St. Michael, rooster," and Constance Clark reads her poems "A Galaxy by the Pond" and "The Garden."Megan Willome is the author, most recently, of a poetry collection titled Love & other Mysteries. Her work has also appeared at Every Day Poems, Solum Journal, The Way Back to Ourselves, and The Windhover. Her day is incomplete without poetry, tea, and a walk in the dark.Constance Clark is a writer and retired teacher from central NJ. Her poems have appeared in Litbreak Magazine, Heavy Feather Review, Kosmos, anthologies, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a collection of poems focused on the notice of nature and the concept of Japan's 72 microseasons.

Wai-Chin Matsuoka guides us in her contemplative practice, "Havening with Affirmations," from our Autumn issue.Wai-Chin Matsuoka is adjunct faculty at Christos Center for Spiritual Formation's Tending the Holy, and served on staff and as coordinator of the Chicago satellite program and as a facilitator for Alumni Development. She is also a trained supervisor for spiritual directors and a facilitator of her Soul-Tending Retreats. With more than two decades of experience in facilitating others into healing encounters with God the Divine Physician, Wai-Chin helps others “doula” new life from the ashes of trauma, change, and transition. Wai-Chin is credentialed as an Ensoulment Coach to guide others to live from the fullness of their souls, a certified InterPlay leader, and a Focused Energy Balance Index (FEBI) coach. These somatic streams add a holistic dimension to her spiritual companionship that is mind-body-heart-spirit focused.

Brittany Deininger reads her poems "The Seed Collectors," "Sarah's Dream," and "Rebirth Motif."Brittany Deininger is a poet, feminist theologian, and educator. She received an MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and an MATC from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. Her work has appeared in On Being, EcoTheo Review, The Ekphrastic Review, Metphrastics, Pensive and elsewhere. She lives in New York.

Eric Massanari leads this contemplative practice to strengthen our confidence while growing our compassion, so that we are ready to generously give, graciously receive, courageously release, and compassionately serve. Eric Massanari (he/him) is an ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA, and currently serves as the Executive Conference Minister of the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference of MCUSA. Eric also serves as a spiritual director and recently concluded seven years of service on the Spiritual Directors International (SDI) Board of Directors. An avid poet and essayist, he lives with his family in Bellingham, WA, on the unceded lands and waterways of the Coast Salish Peoples.