Maureen Sherbondy reads her three poems, "Imposter Syndrome of the Jewish Kind," "Rabbi Rachel Is Dead," and "Trying to Change the Past" from our current Summer issue.

Maureen Sherbondy's forthcoming book is The Body Remembers. Her work has appeared in European Judaism, Calyx, Southern Humanities Review, and other journals. Maureen lives in Durham, NC.

This is the last episode of our podcast seasons. Be sure not to miss other works from our Summer issue, including art by John L. Gronbeck-Tedesco, Douglas Campbell, Mary Jane Miller, and our cover artist Robert T. Rogers.

Dinah Ryan reads "Grief's Unmaking and Remaking of the Self," a review of Jessica Bebenek's books of poems, No One Knows Us There.

Dinah Ryan is a writer whose practice includes fiction, poetry, cultural criticism, and independent curation. She is a contributing editor for Art Papers and Professor Emerita of English at Principia College, where she was the Cornelius Ayer and Muriel Prindle Wood Professor of the Humanities.

David Blumenfeld reads his poem "Seeing God the Easy Way: Big Sur 1963."

David Blumenfeld is a former philosophy professor who resumed writing stories and poems after a more than 40-year break. Since 2022, he has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize, one of his pieces received a “notable essay” mention in The Best American Essays 2023, another was in The Best American Haiku, 2023, and 10 of his works were finalists or received other high praise in literary magazines.

Shirley Paulson reads her review "“Sacred Rage” and Spiritual Defiance," discussing the book The Girl Who Baptized Herself by Meggan Watterson.

Shirley Paulson is the principal producer of the Early Christian Texts website, earlychristiantexts.com, which features the “Bible and Beyond” series of blog posts, articles, online courses, events, discussions, and a monthly podcast. Shirley’s academic work focuses on early Christian texts, especially those relating to healing practices and theology.

Riley Morsman reads her poem "Like a Mother Peeling Oranges," and Claire Scott reads her poem "Lord, Give Us Seven Hearts."

Riley Morsman’s poetry and nonfiction work has been published in Fathom Magazine, Coffee + Crumbs, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, and elsewhere. Her current writing projects include a poetry collection about the prairie and a hybrid memoir about matrilineage and mental health. You can find her on Instagram and Substack at @rileybethmo.

Claire Scott is an award-winning poet who has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has appeared in the Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary Review, New Ohio Review and Healing Muse among others. Claire is the author of Waiting to be Called and Until I Couldn’t.

Vita Poetica's Contemplative Practices Editor Deb Baker invites us to be "Awed by Creation." Many of our fellow beings have ways of knowing that elude us, and Deb presents us with an opportunity to consider the presence of all our kin in creation -- and the Creator who brought all of us into being.

Deb Baker lives in New Hampshire and works for a climate justice organization and in a hospital. She is a poet and spiritual director, and writes about what she’s been reading at bookconscious.wordpress.com.

Alea Peister reads her poem "Thoughts upon Reading On Beauty and Being Just at the Oncologist's Office."

Alea's writing has been featured in Relief, Solum, Ekstasis, The Curator, Whale Road Review, and Art for the Isolated, among others. In 2025, she will graduate with an MFA in Spiritual Writing from Seattle Pacific University. Alea is passionate about the relationship between creativity and prayer, which she explores in ministry at her church. She daylights as a copywriter at a marketing firm. You can follow her writerly escapades on Instagram at @alea_peister and Substack at aleapeister.substack.com.

Iconographer Philip Davydov speaks with Vita Poetica co-founder and board member Lisa Shirk about the history and practice of iconography, his approach to his work, and how this ancient practice is still relevant today.

Philip Davydov is a second-generation iconographer with an MA from the State Fine Art Academy of Saint Petersburg (faculty of Theory and History of Art). Since March 2022, he lives and works from the Republic of Georgia, teaching iconography in Australia, Italy, and the United States. Learn more about his work, workshops, and courses at iconography.online and sacredmurals.com. 

Barry Casey reads his poem "At Prayer," and Elizabeth Cranford Garcia reads her poems "Tree of Faith" and "Trash Meditations."

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 recent work has appeared in Brevity, Faculty Focus, Detroit Lit Mag, Fauxmoir, Humans of the World, Lighthouse Weekly, Mountain Views, Patheos, Pensive Journal, Rockvale Review, Spectrum Magazine, The Dewdrop, The Purpled Nail, and The Ulu Review. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from Claremont Graduate University. He writes from Burtonsville, Maryland.

Elizabeth Cranford Garcia’s debut collection, Resurrected Body, received Cider Press Review’s 2023 Editor’s Prize. Her work has appeared in Southern Humanities Review, Tar River Poetry, Image, RHINO, Chautauqua, Rappahannock Review, Portland Review, CALYX, and Mom Egg Review, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She is a PhD student at Georgia State and mother of three. Read more at elizabethcranfordgarcia.com.

Pastor and spiritual director Holly Porter Phillips shares about expanding our understanding of prayer and guides us in a practice of lectio divina with poetry.

Holly Porter Phillips is a pastor, writer and trained spiritual director (Anam Cara). She loves the slow pace of spiritual direction and the gift of walking alongside others, bearing witness to their lives. Holly serves as co-pastor at a small church in Austin, Texas, where she lives with her musician husband, their three kids, and a backyard full of birds. She can be found on Substack at hollyporterphillips.substack.com.