Celebrating National Poetry Month with Lauren Saxon

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast hosted by John Gillespie inviting poets to read, explore, and celebrate poetry. While the 2025 National Poetry Month is over, this summer Poetry Medicine for the Soul is still celebrating. Episode 27 features Lauren Saxon reading “Uptown, Minneapolis, Minnesota” by Hieu Minh Nguyen. Lauren and John then discuss the question: What does national poetry month mean to you? Lauren Saxon is a queer, Black poet and engineer living in Portland, ME. She loves her cats, her Subaru, and being chronically online. Lauren’s work is featured in Barrelhouse, Empty Mirror, Across the Margin, Homology Lit, and more. Her debut chapbook, You’re My Favorite, won the 2023 Maine Literary Award for Book of Poetry, and is out now with Thirty West Publishing. Learn more at: www.laurenmsaxon.com. This podcast is hosted and produced by John Gillespie. Check out our website or Simplecast podcast feed for more episodes. Listen and subscribe to Poetry Medicine for the Soul in Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more and get in touch: poetrymedicineforthesoul.com