Lisken Van Pelt Dus: National Poetry Month 2026

Poetry Medicine for the Soul is a podcast inviting poets to share, explore, and celebrate poetry, hosted by John Gillespie. This National Poetry Month 2026 bonus episode features Lisken Van Pelt Dus reading “if up’s the word” by E.E. Cummings. You can read "if up's the word" on the Poetry Foundation website. Lisken Van Pelt Dus is the author of two full-length collections of poems, What We’re Made Of (Cherry Grove 2016) and How Many Hands to Home (Mayapple Press 2025), as well as two chapbooks, Everywhere at Once and Letters to My Dead. She was raised in England, the US, and Mexico, and now lives with her husband in western Massachusetts, where she is an award-winning teacher of writing, languages, and martial arts. Her work can be found in many journals, anthologies, and craft books, including recently Naugatuck River Review, The Comstock Review, and The Bond Street Review, and has earned several awards and Pushcart Prize nominations. Learn more at LVPDPoetry.com. This podcast is hosted and produced by John Gillespie. Check out our website for more episodes: https://poetry-medicine-for-the-soul.simplecast.com/Listen and subscribe to Poetry Medicine for the Soul in Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Get in touch with us at: [email protected]