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episodes
Language Quirks
Figures of speech, featuring poems by Elizabeth Klise, Andy Macera and Conrad Hilberry.
7 minutes | Transcript
The Athlete
Physical and personal wrestlings, featuring poems by Doug Arnold, John McKernan, Susan Okie and David Sloan.
9 minutes | Transcript
Shakespeare’s Birthday!
Celebrating with sonnets by Cheryl A. Corey and Lana Ayers, plus a peek inside Winifred Hughes’s 2024 Henry Morgenthau Poetry prize-winning manuscript.
6 minutes | Transcript
Art
Inspiration and speculation, featuring poems by Donna L. Emerson, Paul Fisher and Sarah Yerkes.
7 minutes | Transcript
Key Bridge
Resistance and resilience, featuring work by Roy Cheng Tsung, John Glowney and Penelope Scambly Schott.
7 minutes | Transcript
Palindromes
Timely wordplay, with poems by Ronald Vossler, Shelley Smithson and Helen Wickes.
7 minutes | Transcript
Peek Inside the New Issue
Working through it, with pieces from Ellie Anderson, Etta Brandt, and Nikia Leopold.
5 minutes | Transcript
Green!
Preservation of language, love, and integrity with poetry from Beverly Greenspan, William Greenway, and Mac Greene.
6 minutes | Transcript
Bell and the Telephone
Longing for connection, with work from Joseph Hann, Dale Tushman and Denisha Naidoo.
7 minutes | Transcript
Age Gap
Disconnections, with excerpts from stories by John Picard and James O’Sullivan.
6 minutes | Transcript
Music Therapy
The power of melodies, memories and reveries, with poems by Olive Kohl Giese, Kathleen O’Toole, Diana La Com and Allen C. West.
7 minutes | Transcript
Remember the Alamo
Mangoes, messages and unsolicited advice, with work from Texan writers Parul Shah, Viviane Vives and Janet McCann.
7 minutes | Transcript
Valentine’s Day
Young love at any age, with work by Diana La Com, Sherman Pearl and Nancy Davidoff Kelton.
6 minutes | Transcript
Lincoln’s Birthday
Unlikely links to Lincoln, with work by Joel Savishinsky, Betty Orr and Christine Lincoln.
7 minutes | Transcript
Poe and His Bird
Ravens and other metaphors, with poems by Jean Chapman Snow, Kathy Mangan and Jean Connor.
7 minutes | Transcript
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Descendants of the Holocaust, featuring pieces by Fedora Horowitz, Fran Markover and Wilderness Sarchild.
7 minutes | Transcript
Adventure & Hope
Spirited stories for your spirits, with pieces by Margarita Meyendorff, Leslie Gabel-Brett and Russell Rowland.
7 minutes | Transcript
On Hold
Phone purgatory, with poems by Judith Arcana and Dennis H. Lee.
5 minutes | Transcript
Mary Azrael Turns 80!
Celebrating the milestone of this Passager co-editor with an interview. Featuring poems by Mary Azrael and Jean Connor.
7 minutes | Transcript
Look! Up in the Sky!
Atmospheric insights, with poems by pilot Ann Darr and Carol Peck.
6 minutes | Transcript
Letters
Into the archive, featuring an epistolary poem by Andrew Brown, and excerpts from cover letters and thank-you notes sent by Passager’s readers and submitters over the years.
7 minutes | Transcript
The 2024 Morgenthau Prize
Passager’s first book prize for a writer 70 or older, with poems by its previous winners Dennis H. Lee and Mark Elber, and judge David Keplinger.
7 minutes | Transcript
Thanksgiving
Finding gratitude, with poems by Ida Marie Beck, Terry S. Johnson, Marya Smith and Barbara Draper.
7 minutes | Transcript
A More Positive Spin
Threads of kindness, with poems by Elizabeth Kerlikowske, James K. Zimmerman and Larnell Custis Butler.
6 minutes | Transcript
Veterans Day
Post-war poems by Vietnam War veterans Eric Forsbergh and Wayne Karlin.
6 minutes | Transcript
Climate Change
This planet and our time on it, with poems by Robert Lowes, Constance Norgren and Margaret Lloyd.
6 minutes | Transcript
Gaza
A long episode with offerings from Christine S. O’Connor, Shelley List, James McGrath, Ed Vojik, Rose M. Smith, Dori Hale, Jerome Gagnon, Katharyn Howd Machan, Maryhelen Snyder and Adrienne Unger.
16 minutes | Transcript
Appalachian Trail
From Maine to Georgia, and other realms, with poems by Penny Altman, James Wyshynski and Memye Curtis Tucker.
6 minutes | Transcript
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Pride and preservation, with poems by Catherine Allen and Andrew Brown.
7 minutes | Transcript
Burning Bright’s 150th Episode!
Celebrating this milestone with an excerpt from Dorothy Pula Strohecker (Issue 1) and poems by Sharron Singleton and Nan Fry (Issue 50).
6 minutes | Transcript
The 2023 Poetry Contest Issue
Featuring honorable mentions from the new issue, with poems by Joanne Holdridge, Liz Ahl, Laird Harrison and Nancy Lael Braun.
7 minutes | Transcript
A Time to Reflect
Shana tova, with wayfinding poems by Liz Abrams-Morley, Amy White and Jean Connor.
6 minutes | Transcript
Pets
In memory of Gracie Allen, the Passager Poodle, with poems by Ann Kolakowski, Peter Nash, Gene Grabiner and Gary McClain Gannaway.
6 minutes | Transcript
Back to School
Core memories, with pieces by Ellen Hirning Schmidt, Maureen Murphy Woodcock, Maryhelen Snyder.
7 minutes | Transcript
Auld Lang Syne
A look back on the last year at Passager and a peek ahead, with poems by Mark Elber, Sandy Longley, Christine O’Leary Rockey, Joyce S. Brown and Jo Miles.
8 minutes | Transcript
Vive la Marilyns!
Poems by Marilyn Churchill, Marilyn Wallner, and Marilyn McConnell, in memory of Marilyn Shorr.
6 minutes | Transcript
Bastille Day
Retrospect, with poems by Susan Lilley and Claudia Van Gerven, plus a peek inside the new issue with thoughts from contest winner George Drew.
6 minutes | Transcript
July 4
This holiday’s other implications, with pieces by D.R. James and Roy Cheng Tsung, plus a peek inside the new issue with a poem by Keli Osborn.
7 minutes | Transcript
Allusions to Shakespeare
Inspired reading, with pieces by Leon Arden and Shirley J. Brewer, plus a peek inside the new issue with a poem by Charles Kesler.
7 minutes | Transcript
Kindergarten at 60
Back to school, with an excerpt by Dian Seidel.
6 minutes | Transcript
Bloomsday
Crossovers, with poems by Monica De Bhailís, Judy Ireland and Nora Percival.
7 minutes | Transcript
Cars
Stirrings and strandings, with excerpts by Joyce Abell and Timothy Reilly.
6 minutes | Transcript
Updating Religion
Reformations, with poems by Curt Sloan, Jesse Arthur Stone and Joyce La Mers.
6 minutes | Transcript
Memorial Day
Honoring our late loved ones, with poems by Mark Elber and Fran Markover.
7 minutes | Transcript
Mothernest
Four poems in the spirit of mother-ness, introducing a new collection by Sandy Longley.
7 minutes | Transcript
Mothers
Mother memories, with poems by Gilbert Arzola, Wilderness Sarchild, Wendy Elizabeth Ingersoll and Daniel Carpenter.
8 minutes | Transcript
May Days
What happens when we’re at war with ourselves and others, with works by Diana Anhalt and Arthur Rivkin.
6 minutes | Transcript
May Day
Contemplating what helps us bloom, with poems by Kathy Mangan, Sarah Yerkes and Catherine DeNunzio.
6 minutes | Transcript
Music
It’s the soundtrack to our lives and the rhythmic telling of our destinies with poems by Diana la Com, Ruth Moon Kempher and Harry Bauld.
7 minutes | Transcript
Words
The things we use to say what we need and how we feel, with poems by Tony Howarth, Sophia Rivkin and Tim Gillespie.
7 minutes | Transcript
Birth and Rebirth
Enjoying all that came before, what is here now, and what will be with poems by John Glowney, Sharron Singleton, Maryhelen Snyder and Henry Morgenthau III.
7 minutes | Transcript
Marching into April
Witness the blooming of April’s expectations and memories with poems by Rochelle Jewel Shapiro, Jim Zafris, Mike Jurkovic and April Lindner.
6 minutes | Transcript
The Trauma Issue
Taking a deeper look into our invisible, innermost scars, with poems by Tonia Dixon, Kelly Madigan and Diana Fusting.
8 minutes | Transcript
The Ides of March
Diving into the month that has transfixed history, with works by Julie Cadwallader Staub, Julia Carter Aldrich and Julie LeMay.
6 minutes | Transcript
Writing
Exploring the art and effects of writing, with works by Joyce Greenberg Lott, Martha Strom and Vince Granata.
6 minutes | Transcript
Bridges
Whether we’re burning them or building them, Margaret Lunden-Molinari, Gail Newman, Betty Howard and Roy Cheng Tsung understand the power and importance of bridges.
7 minutes | Transcript
Poetic Forms
Appreciating the form and flow of words, with poems by Wells Burgess, John Ridland, Nancy Carlson and Nan Fry.
7 minutes | Transcript
Valentine’s Day
Embracing the sweet, and sometimes bitter, temptation of love this season, with poems by Michael Schneider, John Davis and Rachel Michaud.
6 minutes | Transcript
Poems in Protest
Remembering those lost to racial injustice while hoping for a brighter tomorrow, with poems by Art Cohen, Robert Nelson and Ted Lockhart.
6 minutes | Transcript
Petes!
Oh, for Pete’s sake! Works by Peter Lucas, Kimberly Peterson and Peter Hornbostel.
7 minutes | Transcript
The Morgenthau Prize
Recalling memories and faces, with works from Henry Morgenthau, Dennis H. Lee and Mark Elber.
7 minutes | Transcript
Two Reptiles and a Mammal
Memories of childhood and the curious experience of our changing bodies, with works by Nancy Davidoff Kelton, Susan Okie and Wendy Taylor Carlisle.
6 minutes | Transcript
Another Year Older
Another year, another lesson with poems by Maxine Gibson, Doris Watts and Melanie Dubose.
6 minutes | Transcript
Holiday Light
Late December, lights shining in the darkness, with inspiring words from Andrew Brown and Gilbert Arzola.
6 minutes | Transcript
The Night Sky
On flight and nightly trips, with poems by Scott Ward, Arne Weingart and Paula Colangelo.
6 minutes | Transcript
Sagittarius
The season of the centaur, with pieces by Joyce Abell, Alan C. West, Nancy Davidoff Kelton and Dennis H. Lee.
7 minutes | Transcript
Eating!
Thoughts on food and food for thought, with poems by Bonnie Jacobson, Charles Springer, Fran Markover, Sharron Singleton and Ellen Hartley.
6 minutes | Transcript
Veterans Day
Post-war, with pieces by Charles West, Freddie Lee Wilson & Craig Hukill, David McAleavey and Michael Miller.
6 minutes | Transcript
More from the New Issue
More honorable mentions from the new issue of Passager, Lenett Partlow-Myrick, Len Freeman, Bob Shapero and Jerome Gagnon.
6 minutes | Transcript
Stress
Writing through it, with selections by Willa Schneberg, Michael Milburn and Jane Goldsmith.
7 minutes | Transcript
Headstone by Mark Elber
Introducing Mark Elber’s prize-winning book, featuring selected poems from the just-released Headstone.
8 minutes | Transcript
Autumn
Transitions, with poems by Ginny Lowe Connors, Larsen Bowker, Pru Starr and Wilderness Sarchild.
7 minutes | Transcript
2022 Passager Poet David Bergman
Four poems from 2022 Passager Poetry Contest Winner David Bergman.
6 minutes | Transcript
The Diaries
Pandemic reflections from Judith Beth Cohen, Maureen Woodcock, Gloria Kropf, Lynn M. Knapp, Rich Bates, Wendy Watson, Martha Graham-Waldon, Amy Cotler, Mary Alice Dixon, Ellen Reichman, Tricia Knoll, Pia Wood, Susan Milord and Dayana Moreno.
12 minutes | Transcript
The 2022 Contest Issue
Honorable mentions from the new issue of Passager, with poems by Joyce Schmid, Julie Pratt and James McGrath.
6 minutes | Transcript
Women
Four poems about women, featuring Laurie Barton, Cathleen Cohen, Dianne Woods Ashley and Laura Secord.
7 minutes | Transcript
National Ampersand Day
Honoring the ampersand and the bridges between ideas, with poems by Marilyn Wallner, Anne Myles, Patricia Zylius and Sarah Yerkes.
7 minutes | Transcript
Summer
Sunny and seasonal, with poems by Pat Hale, Dorothy Riehm, John O’Dell and Ed Minus.
7 minutes | Transcript
Weddings
Wedding season, with excerpts of memoirs by Charles Heckman and Gloria O’Neil.
6 minutes | Transcript
The Centenarians
On this 100th episode of Burning Bright, poems by 100-year-olds Jean Connor, Henry Morgenthau III and Sarah Yerkes.
7 minutes | Transcript
Fathers
Fathers and fatherhood, with poems by Thomas Jardine, Harriet Stratton, Marc Swan and Jeanie Sanders.
6 minutes | Transcript
Living on the Cusp
Growing pains, with excerpts by Sarah Dabney and Timothy Reilly.
6 minutes | Transcript
The 1950s and 60s
Mid-century childhoods, with pieces by Judy Lee Green, Marianne Patty and Rosanne Singer.
7 minutes | Transcript
Memorial Day
Three women of WWII, with poems by Diane Dees, E. Laura Golberg and Shirley Brewer.
6 minutes | Transcript
Music
Musical imagery, with poems by Steve Matanle, Larnell Custis Butler and Maryhelen Snyder. (To see Larnell’s drawing of Bessie Ferguson, click on “transcript” below.)
5 minutes | Transcript
Pets
Their companionship, with pieces by Roberta Schine, John Davis and Gary McClain Gannaway.
6 minutes | Transcript
Mother’s Day
Memorable mothers, with pieces by Maureen Hossbacher, Margaret Osburn, Nancy Davidoff Kelton and Chris Carbaugh.
6 minutes | Transcript
Baseball
The season begins, with pieces by Harry Bauld, John Kimmey and Jennifer Wallace.
6 minutes | Transcript
Coupla Old Men
Meet Bert and Callum, with pieces by Kathy Shorr and Kirk Wareham.
6 minutes | Transcript
Eggs
More than food, with pieces by Mark Harris and Fran Markover.
7 minutes | Transcript
Spring Miracles
Birth, new beginnings and miracles, with poems by Beth Paulson, Liz Abrams-Morley and Wendy Hoffman.
6 minutes | Transcript
Women’s History Month
Celebrating women, with pieces by Wilderness Sarchild, Gilbert Arzola and Joyce Abell.
6 minutes | Transcript
Pandemic Retrospective
Two years of COVID, with excerpts from Juliet Wilson, Orman Day, Patrick Hansel, Elaine Lambert and Liz Abrams-Morley.
7 minutes | Transcript
War
Its impact, with poems by Patrick Hansel, James McGrath and Kaz Sussman.
6 minutes | Transcript
Near Death Experience
Life and death and curiosity, with poems by Joyce La Mers, Maureen Murphy Woodcock, Pat Hurley and Fran Markover.
6 minutes | Transcript
Kids
Children and childhood, with pieces by Johanna DeMay, Kristin Davis and Dian Seidel.
6 minutes | Transcript
The New Issue!
A peek inside the 2022 Open Issue, with excerpts from Rhett Watts, Jayne Brown and Patrick J. Murphy.
6 minutes | Transcript
Presidents’ Day
Presidential namesakes, with poems by Rossme Taylor, Tom Buchanan and Leah Johnson.
7 minutes | Transcript
Valentine’s Day
Love and romance, with poems by Denise Rue, C. W. Emerson, Marge Piercy, Chuck Madansky and Dorothy Weil.
7 minutes | Transcript
Winter Animals
The Groundhog, the Mouse and the Crow, with pieces by Laura Wisniewski, Alene Bricken and Jean Connor.
6 minutes | Transcript
Three Sonnets and a Pantoum
Well and lesser-known forms, with poems by Lee Warner Brooks, Elinor Horwitz, Norma Chapman and Bonnie Naradzay.
6 minutes | Transcript
In Memory of Jean Connor
A tribute episode to the remarkable poet.
6 minutes | Transcript
Hope
Springtime and other feelings we need right now, with poems by Barbara Stout, James McGrath, Gilbert Arzola and Shirley J. Brewer.
7 minutes | Transcript
The Poets of Ingleside
Celebrating new passions in old age, with poems by the Poetry Salon of Ingleside at Rock Creek.
10 minutes | Transcript
Ox Horn Bend
Fathers and long-awaited answers, with excerpts from Ox Horn Bend by Roy Cheng Tsung.
6 minutes | Transcript
The Solitude of Memory
Empathy and experience, with poems about love, war and blindness, from The Solitude of Memory by Michael Miller.
7 minutes | Transcript
Grandfather’s Mandolin
Ancestors traveling their paths to the future, with excerpts from Grandfather’s Mandolin by Fran Markover.
7 minutes | Transcript
Payments
The price of dowry and passage, with pieces by Gavin Kayner and Renny Golden.
8 minutes | Transcript
Thanksgiving
Cooking and expectation, with pieces by Maureen Hossbacher, Jim Taylor and Larnell Custis Butler.
7 minutes | Transcript
Time
How we experience time, with poems by Steve Matanle, Diana Anhalt, Jennifer Burd and Sarah Yerkes.
6 minutes | Transcript
Veterans Day
The people that survived, with pieces by James McGrath and Mark G. Carter.
6 minutes | Transcript
Things in Trees
Apples, birds and wishes, with poems by Jean Connor, Fran Markover, Pat Anthony and Jennifer Wallace.
7 minutes | Transcript
Driving
Unexpected destinations, with poems by Roger Pfingston, John Hovde, Jesse Arthur Stone and Shirley Brewer.
6 minutes | Transcript
Churches
Churches and change, with pieces by Amy Gottfried and Sharon Doyle.
5 minutes | Transcript
Masks
Masks: literal and metaphorical, with pieces by Miriam Karmel, Art Cohen, Ruth Beker and Henry Morgenthau III.
7 minutes | Transcript
2021 Passager Poet
Highlighting the 2021 Passager Poet Gail DiMaggio with two of her contest-winning “mettas.”
6 minutes | Transcript
2021 Contest Issue
Four poems from the new poetry contest issue, by Marie Fochios, Gail Newman, Colleen Anderson and Jan Mordenski.
7 minutes | Transcript
Autumn
Memories of young passion, with poems by Victoria Korth and Kathy Mangan, and in honor of National Cooking Day – a poem by Ruth Mota.
7 minutes | Transcript
Music
Two pieces sort of about music, by Donna Pucciani and Timothy Reilly.
6 minutes | Transcript
September
Football, Grandparents Day and Rosh Hashanah, with poems by Gilbert Arzola, Liliane Roy Anders and Fran Markover.
5 minutes | Transcript
Puttin’ It All on Hold
Summer break, with poems by Jennifer Wallace and Judith Arcana.
5 minutes | Transcript
Poems or Girdles?
Two form poems, by Antoinette Kennedy and Lynn Dizard.
6 minutes | Transcript
You Can Count On It
Three pieces about numbers from Wilderness Sarchild, Christine O’Connor and Marie Anderson.
7 minutes | Transcript
Classical Surprises
Detention, indigestion, and other muses with pieces by Leon Arden and Dennis H. Lee.
5 minutes | Transcript
4th of July
Two very different takes on fireworks, with pieces by Jack Ritter and Victoria Wyatt.
6 minutes | Transcript
Juneteenth
This episode celebrates Juneteenth, with pieces by Mary Carter Smith, Lucille Clifton and Larnell Custis Butler.
6 minutes | Transcript
Father’s Day
Four pieces about fathers and food, by Ruth Holzer, Greg Moglia, Shirley J. Brewer and Roy Cheng Tsung.
6 minutes | Transcript
The 17-Year Locusts
Ok, not locusts — cicadas! If you’re in much of the eastern part of the United States these days, you’ve probably had the mixed blessing of dodging them, stepping on them, listening to them, and sticking their shells to your nose or eyebrows. Poems by Sophia Rivkin, Mary Azrael and Barbara Crooker.
6 minutes | Transcript
First Anniversary
A look back to Passager’s beginnings back in 1990, with poems by former US Poet Laureate Josephine Jacobsen and Judson Jerome.
5 minutes | Transcript
Guys and Sports
A look at sports and fans, with pieces by Bill Smoot, Gilbert Arzola and Kathy Mangan.
6 minutes | Transcript
Poetry Contest
Passager’s annual poetry contest closes April 15. On this episode, poems from past Poetry Contest issues.
6 minutes | Transcript
Baseball
To mark the beginning of baseball season, an excerpt of “Striking Out” by Bea Epstein from the 2013 Passager Open Issue.
5 minutes | Transcript
Hope
Four pieces celebrating Spring, the season of hope, by Kathy Mangan (Taproot), John L. Wright (2021 Passager Open Issue), Jean L. Connor (A Hinge of Joy) and Helen Vo-Dinh (2007 Passager Open Issue).
6 minutes | Transcript
Jazz
Some poems inspired by jazz and jazz musicians, from Harry Bauld (The Uncorrected Eye), Steve Matanle (Nightbook) and John Glowney (2020 Passager Poetry Contest).
6 minutes | Transcript
Poetic Forms
Examples of three specific poetic forms, with poems by Philip Allen (2021 Open Issue), Sarah Yerkes (Days of Blue and Flame) and Clarinda Harriss (2018 Open Issue).
6 minutes | Transcript
A Peek at the New Issue
Two pieces from the forthcoming issue of Passager, from Elaine Logan and Michael Salcman.
6 minutes | Transcript
Chinese New Year
An excerpt from Beyond Lowu Bridge by Roy Cheng Tsung to commemorate the Chinese New Year.
6 minutes | Transcript
Valentine’s Day
Three poems about love, from Sheila Golburgh Johnson, Virginia Anderson and Ebby Malmgren.
6 minutes | Transcript
Groundhog Day
Three poems about animals that generally stay out of sight during the winter, by Lisa Bellamy, Judith Bernal and Stuart Chalfant.
7 minutes | Transcript
Covid
Three poems from Passager writers Anita Mewherter (2018 Open Issue), Pilar Saavedra-Vela and Rex Wilder (2020 Poetry Contest Issue).
5 minutes | Transcript
MLK
Celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King with pieces by Margaret Rozga and Eugenia Collier, from Passager’s special Martin Luther King issue, published in 2008.
6 minutes | Transcript
The Quarantine 15
Three poems about food, by Miles Coon (2010 Passager Poetry Contest), Peter Harris (2012 Passager Open Issue) and Shirley J. Brewer (A Little Breast Music).
6 minutes | Transcript
New Orleans Bound
Excerpts of an essay by Virginia writer Joyce Abell, from her memoir Prickly Roses, published by Passager Books in 2017. Meet Abell in a video interview.
7 minutes | Transcript
It Pleases Me No End
Three poems to celebrate the season, from Steve Matanle (Nightbook), Sarah Yerkes (Days of Blue and Flame), and Jean L. Connor (A Cartography of Peace).
7 minutes | Transcript
Christmas
Excerpts of “An Empty Sky,” a short story by Massachusetts writer Sean Padraic McCarthy from the 2020 Open issue of Passager.
6 minutes | Transcript
Trying to Come Home
Excerpt of a memoir by Chinese-American writer Roy Cheng Tsung, from his new book Ox Horn Bend, just released from Passager Books.
6 minutes | Transcript
Hunger & Faith
Two poems by poets Kathy Mangan (Taproot, 2019) and Harry Bauld (The Uncorrected Eye, 2018).
6 minutes | Transcript
Thanksgiving
Excerpts from Illinois writer Julie McCracken’s memoir “Lord, Please Let Me Live Until Strawberry Season,” published in Passager in 1992.
5 minutes | Transcript
Battered Wife
Excerpts from Iowa writer Pam Kress-Dunn’s memoir “Love and Fury in a Plastic Box,” from the 2019 Passager Open Issue.
5 minutes | Transcript
Lizzie the Coyote
Excerpt of an essay by Oaxaca writer Robert Joe Stout called “Laughing at the Moon,” published in the 2017 Open Issue of Passager.
5 minutes | Transcript
Back to School
Two poems by New York poet Harry Bauld from his book, The Uncorrected Eye, and Indiana poet Gilbert Arzola, from his book, Prayers of Little Consequence.
6 minutes | Transcript
Growing Up in Traumatic Times
A poem by 2020 Passager Poet Liz Abrams-Morley, from the 2020 Passager Poetry Contest issue.
5 minutes | Transcript
Food
Two poems by poets Ruth Mota (2018 Passager Poetry Contest) and Leatha Kendrick (2017 Passager Poetry Contest).
6 minutes | Transcript
Before you write from the heart
Three poems from New Jersey poet Dennis H. Lee, 2020 winner of the Henry Morgenthau III First Book Poetry Prize for his collection, Tidal Wave.
5 minutes | Transcript
Remembering Life in Mexico
Two poems from Georgia poet Diana Anhalt, from her book Because There Is No Return, published by Passager Books in 2015.
4 minutes | Transcript
An Interpretation of Dreams
Excerpts of a short story by Baltimore writer Stephen Dixon from the 2016 Passager Open Issue.
5 minutes | Transcript
The Approximate Weight of My Responsibility
Two poems by Cape Cod poet Wilderness Sarchild, from her book Old Women Talking, published by Passager Books in 2017.
5 minutes | Transcript
The Last Act
Two poems by D.C. poet Henry Morgenthau III from his book, A Sunday in Purgatory, published by Passager Books in 2016.
3 minutes | Transcript
Holding On
Excerpts of a memoir by Massachusetts writer Lynette Benton from the 2020 Passager Open Issue.
5 minutes | Transcript
Insomnia
A poem by Baltimore native Moira Egan, from her book Hot Flash Sonnets, published by Passager Books in 2014.
3 minutes | Transcript
Persecution
Excerpt of a memoir by Chinese-American writer Roy Cheng Tsung, from his book Beyond Lowu Bridge, published by Passager Books in 2014.
4 minutes | Transcript
Lyric Compression
Two poems by Baltimore poets Joseph Harrison (2020 Passager Open Issue) and Fay Ashby (2019 Passager Poetry Contest).
4 minutes | Transcript
Eye Openers
Excerpt of a memoir by New York writer Nancy Davidoff Kelton, from her book Finding Mr. Rightstein, published by Passager Books in 2016.
4 minutes | Transcript
The Redeemed
A poem by Baltimore poet Kathy Mangan, from her book Taproot, published by Passager Books in 2019.
3 minutes | Transcript
After Vacationing in Maine
Two poems by Vermont poet Jean L. Connor, from her book A Cartography of Peace, published by Passager Books in 2005.
4 minutes | Transcript
The Chugalug King Goes Down the Road
Excerpts from Baltimore writer Andrew Brown, from his book The Chugalug King & Other Stories, published by Passager Books in 2016. Meet Brown in a video interview.
4 minutes | Transcript
Pygmalion and Galatea
A poem by Washington, DC poet Sarah Yerkes, from her book Days of Blue and Flame, published by Passager Books in 2019. Meet Yerkes in a video interview.
5 minutes | Transcript
In the Fields
A poem by Indiana writer Gilbert Arzola, from his book Prayers of Little Consequence, published by Passager Books in 2020. Meet Arzola in a short video interview.
3 minutes | Transcript
How I Got to College
Excerpt of a memoir by Virginia writer Joyce Abell, from her book Prickly Roses, published by Passager Books in 2017. Meet Abell in a video interview.
4 minutes | Transcript
Pie Maker Ellen Emily Matthew
Two poems by Baltimore artist and poet Larnell Custis Butler, from her book Improvise in the Amen Corner, published by Passager Books in 2007.
3 minutes | Transcript
To My Fellow Poets
Excerpts of an essay from Baltimore poet Tillie Friedenberg, who wrote in 2008 about joining the protest movement in the 60s, published in the Martin Luther King Jr. issue of Passager.
4 minutes | Transcript
Give Me Liberace or Give Me Death
Two poems by Baltimore poet Shirley Brewer, from her book A Little Breast Music, published by Passager Books in 2008.
3 minutes | Transcript
Meet Our Host
Jon Shorr hosted a radio show in the 90s that featured classic as well as newer poems, “The Muse ’til Midnight,” on Baltimore’s Big Band station WWLG. He is a writer himself, a lover of literature, and his favorite genre is writing radio plays. Do you remember listening in the dark?
You can also hear him on the Oldham County History Center podcast, reading “John Fairfield, Gun For Hire,” Episode 20.
Special thanks to artist Amanda Wrigley for the use of her painting for Burning Bright’s logo image.