Vita Poetica Journal

Tasha Cathey introduces her visual artwork, " God's Underpaintings ," and Barbara Krasner reads her poem, " In the Shtetl, G-d Does Not Only ." Tasha Cathey lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband and two children. Her work is inspired heavily from her years spent living in Arizona and California at a young age and are either composed purely from memory or directly using a reference from he...

D.S. Martin reads his poem, " Bloor-Danforth ," and Tzivia Gover reads her poem, " Sacrifice ." D.S. Martin is Poet-in-Residence at McMaster Divinity College, and Series Editor for the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. He has written five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021), Ampersand (2018), and Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis (2013). He and his wi...

In this interview, " Surrendering to the Kiln ," our Interviews Editor Emily Chambers Sharpe speaks with Sarah Wells Rolland, ceramic artist and founder of The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville, NC. Sarah Wells Rolland is the owner and founder of The Village Potters Clay Center in The River Arts District in Asheville, NC. Sarah is an instructor, mentor and professional ceramic artist. The V...

Kathleen Hellen reads her poem, " the afterlife of mice ," and Tommy Welty reads his poem, "What Will We Do the Day the World Ends?" Kathleen Hellen is the recipient of the James Still Award, the Thomas Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred, and prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review. Her debut collection Umberto’s Night won the poetry prize from Washington Writers’ Publishing...

Benjamin Fairfield reads and performs music from his multimedia feature, " Kani ka ‘ōpala: A Musical Redemption of Rubbish ." Benjamin Fairfield served as a Peace Corps volunteer in a Karen village in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and received his MA and PhD in ethnomusicology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He founded the Thai Ensemble at UH (MUS311), where his students create their own instrument...

Steven Searcy reads his poem, " Christ's Baptism, " and Lisa Rosinsky reads her poem, " Yom Kippur ." Steven Searcy is the author of Below the Brightness (Solum Literary Press, 2024). His poems have appeared in Southern Poetry Review, Commonweal, The Windhover, Ekstasis, Amethyst Review, and elsewhere. He lives with his wife and four sons in Georgia. Lisa Rosinsky has been a finalist for the Slape...

Charles Sutphin and his daughter, Sarah Sutphin, read his short story, " The Woman with Red Hair ." Charles Sutphin has lived in Indianapolis for more than 60 years. His cobbled career includes editor, journalist, writer, attorney, professor and capitalist. Married for 35 years with two children, two dogs and a sense of humor, he recently published in The Flying Island, Helix Literary Review, Cham...

Ryan Service reads his poem, " Lux ," and Alisha Goldblatt reads her poem, " Guarding the Body ." Ryan Service is a full-time priest and sometime-poet based in the Midlands (UK). His work has been published in Theology, The Sociological Review , and other journals. He received a prize for his entry in the Jack Clemo poetry competition, and before training in Rome he read English at the University...

Miriam Fried reads her essay, " Obviously ," from the Autumn 2024 issue. Miriam Fried’s work has been published in The Threepenny Review, Scoundrel Time, Alaska Quarterly Review, Ambit, Crab Creek Review , and The Baltimore Review . She lives in Brooklyn.

Co-Editor Caroline Langston introduces our new Autumn 2024 issue. Tune in for a preview of what's to come, and listen to Caroline's editorial letter, " In the Light of Eternity ."

Richard Chess reads his poem, " The Loneliest Monk: By the Book ," and " Sight Unseen ." Richard Chess is the author of four books, most recently Love Nailed to the Doorpost (University of Tampa Press 2017). He is professor emeritus from UNC Asheville where, among other things, he directed its Center for Jewish Studies for 30 years. He serves on the boards of Yetzirah: A Hearth...

Megan Huwa reads her poem, " Counting Stars ," and Hannah Butcher-Stell reads her poem, " one body ." Megan Huwa is a poet and writer in southern California. A rare health condition keeps her and her husband from living near her family’s five-generation farm in Colorado, so her writing reaches for home—both temporal and eternal. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in...

Jan Wiezorek reads his poem, " Suffering ," and Megan McDermott reads her poem, " Ruth, on the Purity, or Impurity, of Attention ." Jan Wiezorek's poetry appears, or is forthcoming, in The London Magazine, The Westchester Review, Lucky Jefferson, Loch Raven Review, and The Broadkill Review , among other journals. He taught writing at St. Augustine College, Chicago, and wrot...

Matthew J. Andrews reads his essay, " Never Yet an Emptiness ," a review of Lacunae by Scott Cairns. Matthew J. Andrews is a private investigator and writer. He is the author of the chapbook I Close My Eyes and I Almost Remember and the forthcoming full-length collection, The Hours (Solum Press). He can be contacted at www.matthewjandrews.com .

Brad Davis reads his poem, " Unanticipated ," and Luke Usry reads his poem, " Leave Britney Alone ." Brad Davis (MFA, Vermont College of Fine Arts) is a California-born Canadian living in northeastern Connecticut. Poems have appeared in  Poetry  magazine,  The Paris Review, Vallum, JAMA, Puerto del Sol, Brilliant Corners, Image, and many other journals. His most recent book is...

Lory Widmer Hess reads her essay, " Seeing into the Future ," a review of Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart by Brian McLaren. Lory Widmer Hess lives with her family in Switzerland, where she works with adults with developmental disabilities and is completing a training in Spiritual Direction. She is the author of When Fragments Make a Whole: A Personal Journey...

Elizabeth Poliner reads her poems, " Welcome World " and " Bat Mitzvah Dress ," from our Summer 2024 issue. Elizabeth Poliner’s books include the poetry collection, What You Know in Your Hands (David Robert Books), and the novel, As Close to Us as Breathing (Little, Brown & Co.), winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize in Fiction. A new novel, Spinning at the Edges , is f...

Heather M. Surls reads her essay, " My Other Name Is Hagar ." Heather M. Surls is an American writer and journalist who has lived in the Middle East for more than a decade. Her reporting has appeared in outlets like the Jordan News, Christianity Today, Hidden Compass, EthnoTraveler , and Anthrow Circus , while her creative nonfiction has been published in journals like River Teeth, Catam...

Dominic Palmer reads " Want Is My Shepherd ," and Arlene Tribbia reads " Bolt Down the Universe ." Dominic Palmer is a teacher, writer, and church musician living in Manchester. His poetry has been published or is forthcoming in journals including Blue Unicorn, Ekstasis, and EGG+FROG . Dominic and his wife have recently become parents for the first time, so he is quite sleep de...

Grace Donovan reads her short story, " Ave Maria ." Grace Donovan is a fiction writer from Northeast Ohio. She currently resides in the DMV area where she is getting her MFA in fiction writing at George Mason University. Grace loves ice cream, her cat Patsy, the fiber arts, and the Brontë sisters. She often writes about women, queerness, and childhood.

David Allen Sullivan reads his three poems, " Wine Skin Slippages ," " Tympanic Membranes ," and " This body ," from our current Summer issue. Former Santa Cruz county poet laureate David Allen Sullivan’s books include Strong-Armed Angels, Every Seed of the Pomegranate, a book of co-translation with Abbas Kadhim from the Arabic of Iraqi Adnan Al-Sayegh, Bombs Have Not...

Kolya Braun Greiner leads a nature meditation walk, " Contemplation of Creation ." Take this episode with you out on a walk, hike, or simply to a quiet spot indoors by a window. This rich offering includes exercises to center your mind, body, and spirit before the walk, as well as seven individual "encounters" with beings in nature. Listen to the guided meditation in entirety (...

The Artist as Prophet, the Church as Collective : Pastor & actor Rev. Lisa Cole Smith speaks with our Assistant Interviews Editor Darby Brown on art as a spiritual language, the church's role in supporting artists, and "equipping artists to serve as prophetic critics and imaginative visionaries in the world." Rev. Lisa Cole Smith is an actor, director, pastor, and creative entrep...

The Summer 2024 issue of the journal is here! Tune in for a preview of the new works we'll be featuring this podcast season.

Assistant Interviews Editor Darby Brown speaks with dancers and choreographers Hope Blackburn and Jacob Shoup of Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet. A transcript of the interview is available here . Hope Blackburn and Jacob Shoup are dancers and choreographers with Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet , a professional dance company of artist-theologians whose goal is to create spaces where art and faith can flo...