“Absolution” by Jillian Burden

In this week’s episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews Jillian Burden about her poem “Absolution.” Jillian is a Canadian-American poet based in New Jersey. As a seminary graduate and Reformed Church member, she explores themes of Christian religion and spirituality in her writing. Her essay on faith and infertility was published in the book Mothers in Waiting (Harvest House Publishers, 2019). When she’s not writing you can find her teaching, gardening, or hiking through trails and museums with her family.

In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Haley Hodges about her poem “Lord of Light and Dark.” Haley is an MFA (Poetry) candidate at Seattle Pacific University. She holds qualifications from Hope College, Shenandoah Conservatory, and Oxford University. Her work has been published in Cassandra Voices and Ekstasis Magazine. Recent projects also include The Gun Mass, an international collaborative choral work with music by Jamie Powe. She lives in West Virginia with her husband and young son.

In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Cody Adams about his poem “Choosing Stones.” Cody is an English Teacher from Buffalo, NY. His poetry has appeared in Ekstasis Magazine, Heart of Flesh, Cacti Fur, Solum Literary Press, among others. He received the 2016 Clarence Amann award for his short story Unstuck. He also serves as a Board Member for Forefront Festival.

In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Paul Willis about his poem “Compulsion.” Paul has published eight full collections and six chapbooks of poetry, the most recent of which are Losing Streak (Kelsay Books, 2024) and Orvieto (Solum Literary Press, 2025). Individual poems have appeared in Poetry, Slant, and Southern Poetry Review, and have been selected for publication by Jane Hirshfield, Garrison Keillor, and Adrienne Rich. He is an emeritus professor of English at Westmont College and a former poet laureate of Santa Barbara, California.

In this episode of the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Jo Taylor about her poem, “Upon Our Seeing the Grand Tetons for the First Time.” Jo is a retired, 35-year English teacher from Georgia. Her favorite genre to teach high school students was poetry, and today she dedicates more time to writing it, her major themes focused on family, place, and faith. She says she writes to give testimony to the past and to her heritage. She has been published in several journals, both on-line and in print, and in 2021, she published her first collection of poems, Strange Fire.

In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Brian G. Phipps about his poem “Aeronaut.” Brian is the author of Before the Burning Bush (Univ. of St. Katherine Press, 2018), a collection of poems. His poetry has appeared in several journals, most recently Presence, St. Katherine Review, and Vita Poetica. “Aeronaut” is part of a work-in-progress collection on the feasts of the church year and the seasons of the solar year as experienced by a person with seasonal affective disorder.

In this week’s episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Alex Arthurs about his poem “Broken Balm.” Alex is husband to Sara, father to Luella, and dog-dad to Penny. A graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, Alex is ordained in the Reformed Church in America and has served churches in New Jersey and Michigan. He currently serves as the Pastor of Preaching and Discipleship at Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan.

In this week’s episode of Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma talks with Alex Mouw about his poem “My Lord Beige and Bubble Wrapped.” Alex is the author of the poetry collection The Unbelieving Yelp of Prey (Texas Review Press 2026), an examination of faith and ecology in the Midwest. His interests revolve around nature writing, devotional poetics, and the exchange between formal and free verse traditions. Raised in Michigan, Alex earned an undergraduate degree at Hope College, an MFA at Purdue University, and a PhD at Washington University in St. Louis. His poems appear in The Massachusetts Review, The Southern Review, West Branch, and other literary magazines. His academic work on poetry, religion, and American culture appears in Twentieth-Century Literature, African American Review, and other peer-reviewed publications. His writing has received awards and support from America Magazine, Phoebe Journal, Vassar College, the University of Minnesota, and other institutions. Alex has worked as a visiting assistant professor at Hope College, a Lynne Cooper Harvey Fellow in American Studies at Washington University, an editor, and a writing tutor. Currently an assistant professor of English at Samford University, he lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and two children.

In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, Rose Postma interviews Marjorie Maddox about her poem “Sowing.” Marjorie is Professor Emerita of English and Creative Writing at the Lock Haven campus of Commonwealth University, 2023 Monson Arts Fellow, a poetry editor of Presence, and radio host of WPSU-FM'’s Poetry Moment. Marjorie has published seventeen collections of poetry, including Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation Yellowglen Prize, one of three finalists Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes.

In this week’s episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Jerry Harp about his poem “The Precincts of the Holy.” Jerry’s books include Creature (2003), Gatherings (2004), and Spirit Under Construction (2017). His poems appear in America, Best American Poetry (2009), Boulevard, Cincinnati Review, Commonweal, december, The Iowa Review, The Journal, Kenyon Review, Laurel Review, Notre Dame Review, Pleiades, Poetry Northwest, and The Wallace Stevens Journal, among other places. His reviews appear in American Book Review. He teaches at Lewis & Clark College.