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 explore connections of their tradition with care for the environment. She is currently working on a book about contemplating nature as a way to foster reverence and healing for Earth.

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 Retrograde, and Humble Pie to name a few. Her first book of poems, The Joy of Seasons. A Treasure of Haiku, appeared last November and has received great reviews.

James Hannon is a psychotherapist in Massachusetts where he accompanies adolescents and adults who are recovering from addictions and mood disorders and seeking meaningful and joyful lives. His poems have appeared in Blue Lake Review, Cold Mountain Review, Pensive, Psaltery and Lyre, and other journals and in Gathered: Contemporary Quaker Poets. His second poetry collection, To My Children at Christmas, was published in 2022 by Kelsay Books. Learn more about him at Jameshannonpoetryplus.com.

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 Prize in 2015. His work has appeared in Granta, The Cincinnati Review, Mānoa, The Brooklyn Rail, World Literature Today, and elsewhere.

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 Stifler in those American Pie movies and a house Teddy Roosevelt slept in.

Eric Machan Howd (Ithaca, NY) is a poet, musician, and educator. His fifth collection of poetry, Universal Monsters, was published by The Orchard Street Press in 2021. He is currently working on an erasure project using a work by author H.P. Lovecraft.

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 Point Arts Quarterly, and others.

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, Ekstasis, and Impostor magazine.

Charm Chandler (he/it) is a lover of words and lives in the Sunset Reality. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. When he is not writing, he is perpetually confused.

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 has evolved over the years, and he writes about impermanence, hope, and rebirth.

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.

Originally from the UK and now living in South Africa via Cameroon, Kath Higgens is a retired field linguist. Her love of poetry and her spiritual path sometimes spills out into writing.

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.