Vita Poetica Journal

Jesse Caverly reads his poem " Orphanage ," and Jonathan McGregor reads his poems " Nebuchadnezzer " and " Catch for Us the Foxes ." Jesse Caverly was born an hour outside of Boston, but he and his mother quickly became nomads. He doesn't remember much about Tucson and everything about Hawaii. There, he had a small white terrier as a pet. There, he collected comic...

On the podcast today, Rebekah Vickery guides us in " A Blessing for Your Face " from our current Spring issue. Rebekah Vickery is a trauma therapist, group facilitator, and acrylic artist located in the beautiful and wild Pacific Northwest. In all of her work with people, art, and words, she loves engaging themes of grief, transition, and hope.

Ace Boggess reads his poem "Anybody Raptured Yet?" and Mark Mansfield reads his poem "The Tryst." Ace Boggess is author of six books of poetry, most recently Escape Envy . His writing has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Notre Dame Review, Harvard Review, Mid-American Review , and other journals. An ex-con, he lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he writes and tries...

Kolya Braun-Greiner reads her book review, " An Enfleshed Spirit: Reflections on Cole Arthur Riley's This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us ." Kolya Braun-Greiner is a member of Seekers Church and former program coordinator with Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake. She has created curricula and facilitated trainings for people of many faiths to exp...

Paula M. Rodriguez reads her poem " Stamps ," and James Hannon reads his poem " Sinai. " Paula M. Rodriguez is an educator in greater Los Angeles. Her first poem in the United States appeared in The Blind Man's Rainbow in 2006. Since then, her poems have been featured in multiple anthologies and journals, including Scintilla, Bacopa Review, New Note Poetry, Mercury Retrogra...

O Thiam Chin's short story, "A Wolf's Heart," is published in our current Spring issue. Vita Poetica 's Managing Editor Julie Wan reads the story in today's episode. O Thiam Chin is the author of four novels, including We Are Not Alone Here (PRH SEA, 2022) and six short-fiction collections. His debut novel, Now That It’s Over , won the inaugural Epigram Books Fiction Priz...

Will Neuenfeldt reads his poem, " Ritual ," and Eric Machan Howd reads his poems, " Initiation " and " Personal Theology ," from our Spring 2023 issue . Will Neuenfeldt studied English at Gustavus Adolphus College and his poems are published in Capsule Stories, Months to Years, and Red Flag Poetry . He lives in Cottage Grove, MN, home of the dude who played Steven Sti...

Heidie (Raine) Senseman reads her essay, " House of Worship ," published in our Spring 2023 issue. Heidie (Raine) Senseman is an Ohio-based writer who works primarily in the realm of creative nonfiction. She dreams of becoming a master pie-baker and being able to do 20 push-ups in a row. Heidie's work has previously appeared in Chapter House Journal, Marathon Literary Review, Still P...

The Spring 2023 issue of Vita Poetica Journal is here! Tune in for a preview of new works at the intersection of art, faith, beauty, and spirit. Cover Art: David A. Goodrum Music: John Morris

Lila Robinett reads her poem, " Watching the Pastor's Daughter ," and Charm Chandler reads his poem, " As a Form of Great Immensity and Understanding ." Lila Robinett is a native East Texan living in Hattiesburg, Mississippi where she attends the University of Southern Mississippi as a Ph. D. student in Creative Writing. Her work can be found in Five South magazine, Ekstasi...

Chris Vrountas reads his poems " Lenten Eve, 2021 " and " Meadow Aers " from our Winter 2023 issue. Chris Vrountas is a writer and lawyer. He lives in Essex County, MA, with his wife, who still laughs at his jokes after 32 years. He has practiced law for just as long and serves as a mediator of discrimination disputes for the Human Rights Commission. He grew up in an immigrant faith tradition that...

Jen Schneider reads her poem " on time & quiet passings :: fly monarch(s), fly ," and Kath Higgins reads her poem " Owl Spotting ." Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. Recent works include A Collection of Recollections, Invisible Ink, On Habits & Habitats, On Always Being an Outsider , and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups . Or...

Michael Sandler reads his two poems, " A Jetty Stone's Hymn " and " Recipe for Marinara ."  Michael Sandler is the author of a poetry collection, The Lamps of History (FutureCycle Press 2021). His work has appeared in scores of journals, including recently in THINK , Literary Imagination , and Smartish Pace . Michael lives near Seattle; his website is www.sandlerpoetry.com .

Sharon Scholl reads her poem " Soliloquy ," and Natalie M. Schubert reads her poem " On the Shore of Lake Ontario ." Sharon Scholl is a retired college professor (humanities) who convenes a poetry critique group and maintains a website ( freeprintmusic.com ) that donates her original music to small churches. Her poetry chapbooks ( Seasons , Remains ) are available via Amazon Books. Individual poem...

Hilary Sallick reads her two poems, " The Brink " and " A Bit of Earth ." Hilary Sallick is the author of two full-length collections, Love Is A Shore (forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review Books) and Asking the Form (Cervena Barva Press, 2020). Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Notre Dame Review, Small Orange Journal, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, The Inflectionist Review, Empty House Press, Ibbets...

Daniel Thomas reads his poem, " Snow ," and Sean O'Neill reads his poems, " Bookshelf " and " Weekend Cottage ." Daniel Thomas’s second collection of poetry, Leaving the Base Camp at Dawn , was published in 2022. His first book, Deep Pockets , won a 2018 Catholic Press Award. He has published poems in many journals, including Southern Poetry Review, Nimrod, Poetry Ireland Review, The Bitter Oleand...

Rebekah Vickery offers a guided meditation in honoring our skin, a boundary for our bodies. Here is " A Blessing for Your Skin " from our Winter issue . Rebekah Vickery is a trauma therapist, group facilitator, and acrylic artist located in the beautiful and wild Pacific Northwest. In all of her work with people, art, and words, she loves engaging themes of grief, transition, and hope.

Maxim D. Shrayer reads his poem, " For My Daughters, on Yom Kippur ," and Alea Peister reads her poems, " Want " and " Compline ." Maxim D. Shrayer , a bilingual author and translator, teaches at Boston College. His recent books of poetry include Of Politics and Pandemics , in English, and Stikhi iz aipada , in Russian. S hrayer’s new memoir, Immigrant Baggage , is forthcoming in 2023. Alea's writ...

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew reads her essay, " The Calculus of Awe ," from our current Winter issue. Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew is the author of Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Memoir of Bisexuality & Spirit ; the collection of personal essays, On the Threshold: Home, Hardwood, & Holiness ; and two books on writing: Living Revision: A Writer’s Craft as Spiritual Practice , winner of the 2019 Sil...

Alina Gharabegian reads her poem, " Out of Place ," and Kathy Nelson reads her two poems, " Our Lady of the Locked Unit " and " Chaplain ." ⁠Alina Gharabegian is an American Armenian raised in Los Angeles, living in New York City. Trained as a Victorianist, she is an associate professor of English, teaching in New Jersey. Her passions include poetry and the tango.⁠ ⁠Kathy Nelson, 2019 recipient of...

David C. Metz reads his short story, " Her Brother's Keeper ," from our Winter 2023 issue. David C. Metz is a writer and a member of the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. His stories have appeared in several publications, including The MacGuffin, New Plains Review, Bull, Valparaiso Fiction Review, and Perceptions . Originally from Illinois, he lives with his wife in Damascus, Maryland.

Zachary Sholem Berger reads his poem, " On Simple Meaning ," and Mildred Kiconco Barya reads her poem, " Bewilderment ," both published in our Winter 2023 issue. Zackary Sholem Berger is a poet and translator in Baltimore working in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish. By day he is a mild-mannered primary care physician. Mildred Kiconco Barya is a writer from Uganda now living in North Carolina. Her publ...

In " Both / And ," Cheryl Sadowski reviews two museum exhibitions:  A Marriage of Arts and Crafts: Evelyn and William De Morgan , running through February 19, 2023, at the Delaware Art Museum , Wilmington, DE and Discovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things , ongoing at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History , Washington, DC Cheryl Sadowski writes essay...

The journal's Winter 2023 issue is here! Tune in for a preview of new works at the intersection of art, faith, beauty, and spirit.

Cheryl Sadowski reviews Jonathan Franzen's latest novel, Crossroads. Her review is published in our current Autumn issue . Cheryl Sadowski writes essays, reviews, and short fiction from Northern Virginia, where she works in nonprofit management. Her writing explores the plain weave of everyday life with philosophy, art, literature, and the natural world. Cheryl’s lyrical poem “Tenants” was recentl...