In this episode, ERB Podcast producer Julie L. Moore speaks with acclaimed writers Robert Cording and Marjorie Maddox about their most recent books: In the Unwalled City and What's Possible: New and Selected Poems by Cording and Seeing Things and Hover Here by Maddox. Humble and gracious, Cording and Maddox share how they write about their own deep questions, intense challenges, and heart-breaking losses in their vulnerable, relatable poetry and prose. Both retired college professors, Cording and Maddox also address contemporary Americans' hesitance regarding and anxiety about reading poetry as they likewise discuss how their craft enables readers to feel welcome when encountering their poetry. They each read one of their poems to illustrate how accessible and moving their poetry can be. Robert Cording is professor emeritus at College of the Holy Cross where he taught for 38 years and served as the Barrett Chair of English and Creative Writing. After his retirement, he worked for five years as a poetry mentor in the Seattle Pacific University low residency MFA program. He has published ten collections of poems, and three of his books were finalists for the Connecticut Book Award. Walking with Ruskin (CavanKerry Press) was also a runner-up for the Poet’s Prize. A book on poetry, the Bible, and metaphor, Finding the World’s Fullness, was published by Slant. He has received two NEA Fellowships in poetry, two poetry fellowships from the state of Connecticut, and has won three Pushcart Prizes in poetry. His poems have appeared in such notable publications as Best American Poetry, 2018; Best Spiritual Writing (1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010); Poetry Magazine Anthology; Godine: Poets of the New Century; and Milkweed: Urban Nature. Cording has also served as director of From the Fishouse and was poet-in-residence at the Frost Place. Marjorie Maddox 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. Maddox has published seventeen collections of poetry and won many awards, including the Yellowglen Prize and the Philip H. McMath Post-Publication Award for Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation; the Sandstone Book Award for Perpendicular As I; the Redgreene Press Chapbook Award for When the Wood Clacks Out Your Name: Baseball Poems; the Painted Bride Chapbook Award for How to Fit God into a Poem; and the Amelia Chapbook Winner for Nightrider to Edinburgh. Her poem, “Arise,” about the Thailand cave rescue, won the 2019 Foley Poetry Prize by America Magazine. She is co-editor, with Jerry Wemple, of Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (Penn State University Press, 2005) and Keystone: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (Penn State University Press, 2025). If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(an independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) Robert Cording's Recent Books, both by Slant Books: In the Unwalled City (2022) What's Possible: New and Selected Poems (2026) Marjorie Maddox's Recent Books: Seeing Things (Wildhouse Publishing, 2025) Hover Here (Broadstone Books, 2026) Other Books Discussed: Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich The Awful Rowing Toward God by Anne Sexton Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle The Accidental Pilgrim: Finding God and His Mother in Tuscany by Judith Sornberger Sorority of Stillness: A Gallery of Women in Art by Judith Sornberger Love Song with Dying Fish by Marci Rae Johnson Devil's Backbone by Julie L. Moore The Countess by Rebecca Johns Poems Mentioned: "Satire III" by John Donne "Lord" by George Herbert Influential Authors Mentioned & Recommended: Gerard Manley Hopkins, William Wenthe, Sydney Lea, Baron Wormser, Ada Limón, Laura Reece Hogan, and Marie Howe
