Poetry Medicine for the Soul

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This summer in 2026, we are sharing some of our favorite episodes from the archives! Poetry Medicine for the Soul first began in 2020, in partnership with the Stockbridge Library in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. With the Stockbridge Library, over a hundred episodes were recorde...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This summer in 2026, we are sharing some of our favorite episodes from the archives! Poetry Medicine for the Soul first began in 2020, in partnership with the Stockbridge Library in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. With the Stockbridge Library, over a hundred episodes were recorde...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This summer in 2026, we are sharing some of our favorite episodes from the archives! Poetry Medicine for the Soul first began in 2020, in partnership with the Stockbridge Library in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. With the Stockbridge Library, over a hundred episodes were recorde...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Jessica Piazza reading "Easter" by Jill Alexander Essbaum. You can read "Easter" on the Poetry Foundation website. Jessica Piazza is the author of three poetry collections: Interrobang ,  This is not a sky , and  Oblitera...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Julie Danho reading "Theory of Perfection" by Carrie Fountain. You can read "Theory of Perfection" in the AGNI literary online magazine . Julie Danho ’s poetry collection,  Those Who Keep Arriving , won the 2018 Gerald Ca...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Amanda Russell reading “What I Like About Poetry” by Ellen Bass. You can read " What I Like About Poetry " on The American Poetry Review Website. Amanda Russell is an editor at The Comstock Review. Her poems have appeared...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features James Davis reading "Juvenilia" from his forthcoming collection (2027) Bottoming for Dummies. You can read " Juvenilia " in the Bennington Review. James Davis is the author of the poetry collection Club Q , which won the...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Lisken Van Pelt Dus reading “if up’s the word” by E.E. Cummings. You can read "if up's the word" on the Poetry Foundation website. Lisken Van Pelt Dus is the author of two full-length collections of poems, What We’re Made...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Maria Lisella , former Poet Laureate of Queens, reading her poems "Cornrows" and "The Same." Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Lisella is poet and travel writer. She is a graduate of Queensborough Community College and Queen...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Perry Nicholas reading his poem “I’ve Forgotten the Moon” from his newest book, Island of Your Heart. Perry S. Nicholas is a professor emeritus of English at SUNY Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y., where he was awar...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Dane Cervine reading "IN ANY EVENT" by Dorianne Laux.  You can read "IN ANY EVENT" by Dorianne Laux on the SALT Project's website.  Dane Cervine is a Poet, Zen practitioner, and Therapist who lives in Santa Cruz, Californ...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Andrea Deeken reading her poem “On Kindness." Andrea Deeken (she/they) is the author of Mother Kingdom , winner of the 2021 Slapering Hol Press Chapbook Prize. Her writing has appeared in a variety of journals including ...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Karren LaLonde Alenier reading her poem "how we hold on" from her latest book by the same name, how we hold on, from Broadstone Books. Karren Lalonde Alenier is a poet, librettist and literary Leader She is editor of From...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Brooke Morgan reading "Ragged Island" by Edna St. Vincent Millay . This podcast is hosted and produced by John Gillespie. Check out our website for more episodes: https://poetry-medicine-for-the-soul.simplecast.com/ Liste...

**SENSATIVE CONTENT WARNING: This episode references childhood sexual abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-422-4453. Please take care while listening.** Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode fea...

**SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING: This episode references suicide. If you or someone you know needs support, call or text 988 in the U.S. Take care while listening.** Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features highschooler Bella Phinney reading her poem called "My Frie...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Emily Pérez reading "Wildlife" by Ellen Bass.  The poem "Wildlife" by Ellen Bass is available to read on the Poetry Foundation website. Emily Pérez is the author of What Flies Want , winner of the Iowa Prize and a finalis...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Susana H. Case reading “What Do Women Want?” by Kim Addonizio. The poem, "What Do Women Want?" by Kim Addonizio is available to read on the Poetry Foundation website.  Susana H. Case, Ph. D., is the author of nine books o...

**Content Warning: This episode features a poem about a mass shooting. Please take care while listening.** Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Holly Iglesias reading "The Hispanic Invasion of Texas," by María Esquinca, from the collection Where Heaven Sinks.  María Esqunica's poem, "This H...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Elizabeth Sylvia. Elizabeth reads six poems form her new collection, Scythe: "Invitation to Marie Antoinette," "Pouf," "The Scythe," "On Learning that Kim Kardashian Exceeded her Water Allowance by 232,000 Gallons in June," "PSL" and "The Sitting: Marie...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Kathryn Petruccelli reading "Persimmons" by Li-Young Lee. You can read "Persimmons" by Li-Young Lee on the Poetry Foundation's website. Kathryn Petruccelli is a Pushcart-, Best of the Net-, and Best Small Fictions-nominat...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month bonus episode features Owen Lewis reading an untitled poem by Avram Sutzkever.  Owen Lewis is the author of four collections of poetry, Marriage Map , Sometimes Full of Daylight , Field Light , and most recently Prayer of Six Wings , along with thre...

**Content warning: The last poem of this episode discusses gun violence in schools. Take care while listening.** Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Ken Haas. Ken reads seven of his poems: "Stone Fruit," "Speak English," "Reading at the Country Fair," "The Grill," "When Pickleball Saved th...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features interdisciplinary artist and writer Summer J. Hart. Summer reads six poems: "More Rabbits" by Claire Wahmanholm and "8.5 x 11”  by Erin Marie Lynch, and her own poems "Dear Violet," "Salt for the Stain," "There's Something Irregular About this Rain" and...

**SENSATIVE CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains depictions of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Please take care while listening. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 or visit www.thehotline.org.** Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode...