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 episode features Jeri Theriault. Jeri read's her poems "12 Gold Street," "Route 201, Fairfield," "My Father on Iwo Jima," "Communion," "Self-Portrait as Homestead," and "[application] transport." Jeri Theriault is a Franco-American poet who grew up in Waterville, Maine,...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Stu Kestenbaum. He reads his poems "Prayer in the Strip Mall, Bangor, Maine," "In Praise of Hands," "Theology," "Song of Ascents," and "Holding the Light." Stuart Kestenbaum is the author of six collections of poems, Pilgrimage (Coyote Love Press), House...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Megan Grumbling. She reads her poems "The Heist," "Good Digging," "Raking Near the Great Works," "Short Shorts," "Persephone's Lark Song," "Persephone's Light Song," "Help is On the Way," and "Scarecrow." Megan Grumbling writes poetry, criticism and essa...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Jeffrey Thomson. Jeff reads his poems "What Are You Reading?," "The Tale of the Well of Mary," "The Well of the Staff," "The Glass Man, Assisi" and "The Road to Damascus."  Jeffrey Thomson is a poet, memoirist, translator, and editor, and the author of t...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features poet and Acadia National Park trail crew member and Poet Laureate, Christian Barter. Christian reads his poems "McVie," "Acadia," "To Autumn," "Reading Myself," and "Errand." Christian Barter ’s fourth book of poetry, The Ends, is published by Littoral B...

Cynthia Reeves began her writing life over thirty years ago as a poet, but she found that her poetry more often than not drifted into narrative. She gravitates toward forms that lie in the gray area between poetry and prose—prose poems and flash fiction.  She’s the author of three award-winning books: the novel The Last Whaler (Regal House Publishing, September 2024), the novel-in-stories Falling...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features poet and Acadia National Park trail crew member and Poet Laureate, Christian Barter. Christian reads his poems "McVie," "Acadia," "To Autumn," "Reading Myself," and "Errand." Arisa White is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Colby...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Claire Millikin, a poet, scholar, and educator. She reads five of her poems: “After Ballet,” “Nightwork,” “Carolina Birds,” “Cicada Door,” and “When I Was Blonde.” Claire Millikin is a poet and long-distance runner originally from Georgia (USA), and now...

** SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING: This episode references suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 in the U.S., or visit 988lifeline.org* * Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features Maya Williams (ey/em, they/them, she/her), whose work covers suicide awareness, mental healt...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. In this episode, Dr. Therí Pickens reads three works from her poetry collection, What Had Happened Was: "On Losing; A Hypothesis," "Potential Ode or Elegy Out My Window," and "I meet a man with a stutter."  Dr. Therí A. Pickens received her undergraduate degree in Comparative...

Welcome to Poetry Medicine for the Soul, a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This episode features John Reinhart, a poet whose work ranges from dark sci-fi to humorous scenes from his family life. He reads his poems "You Learn Something Everyday," "Dreamweaving," and "Unhappy Meals."  John Reinhart has been awarded the  Dark Poetry Scholarshi...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting  poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. In this episode, Kristen Lindquist reads three of her haibun (haiku-prose hybrid) poems: "Strangers on a Plane," "Natural History," and "The Way In." Kristen Lindquist attended Middlebury College in Vermont and received her MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon. Her po...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie that invites poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, this summer, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 32 features Meg Weston reading two poems by Aimee Nezhukumatahil: “When You are Near, I Turn into a Baja Fairyduster” and “What I Learned in Greenland.” Meg...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie that invites poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, this summer, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 31 features Annaliese Jakimides reading “What Seems Like Joy” by Kaveh Akbar, and “Feather” by Margaret Atwood. Annaliese and John then discuss the question...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie that invites poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, this summer, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 30 features Mike Bove reading “The Jewel” by James Wright and “Encounter” by Czeslaw Milosz. Mike and John then discuss the question: What does national poe...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie that invites poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, this summer, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 29 features Katherine Berry reading “Nox borealis” by Campbell McGrath and her own poem “Northern Lights.” Katherine and John then discuss the question: Wha...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie that invites poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, this summer, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 28 features Rosa Lane reading “Wild nights- Wild nights!” by Emily Dickinson and her own poem, “French Sardines,” from her new poetry collection Called Back...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie inviting poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, this summer Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 27 features Lauren Saxon reading “Uptown, Minneapolis, Minnesota” by Hieu Minh Nguyen. Lauren and John then discuss the question: What does national poetry month...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie that invites poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Season 5, Episode 26 features Kristen Case reading “The Idea of Order at Key West” by Wallace Stevens.   Kristen Case is a poet and scholar. She is the author of American Pragma...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie that invites poets to share and examine poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating.  Episode 25 features Jefferson Navicky reading “Life Status” by Adrian Blevins. Jefferson and John then explore the question: What does National Poetry Month mean to you?  Jefferson Navick...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul, a podcast hosted by John Gillespie, invites poets to share and examine poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 24 features Margaret Haberman reading “Rounding Ballast Key” by George Murphy. Margaret and John then explore the question: What does National Poetry Month mean to you? Margaret A. Haber...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share and examine their work, produced and moderated by John Gillespie. Episode 23 features Kate Kearns and Gibson Fay-Leblanc. Kate reads “Love Poem with Faults” and “Mushrooms Can Consume Nuclear Waste.” Gibson reads “To My Wife” and “Lorca says, the duende loves the rim of the wound”. Kate Kearns is the author of You Are Ruining My Lon...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul, a podcast hosted by John Gillespie, invites poets to share and examine poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 22 features Sarah V. Schweig reading an untitled poem from 1918 by Marina Tsvetaeva and “A CHILDREN’S STORY” by Louise Glück. Sarah and John then explore the question: What does National...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul, a podcast hosted by John Gillespie, invites poets to share and examine poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 21 features James Davis, reading “The Cities of the Plain” by Mona Van Duyn. James and John then explore the question: What does National Poetry Month mean to you? James Davis is the aut...

Poetry Medicine for the Soul, a podcast hosted by John Gillespie, invites poets to share and examine poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 20 features Andrea Deeken reading two poems: "Portrait as Bougainvillea Gone Derelict Over Chain Link" by Karen Rigby, and "We Are of a Tribe" by  Alberto Ríos. Andrea and John then expl...