The Englewood Review of Books Podcast

In this episode of The Englewood Review of Books Podcast, Lindsey Cornett, the Managing Editor of Englewood Press and Assistant Editor of The ERB, is joined by children’s book authors, Dana VanderLugt and Karina Yan Glaser. They address the role of storytelling and imagination in a life of faith and the sometimes surprising ways faith and spirituality show up in children’s literature, with a particular emphasis on life in community and the challenge of loving our enemies. They talk about the tension between marketing books for children when they can, in fact, be enjoyed and appreciated by all readers. Finally, Lindsey, Dana, and Karina discuss some of their favorite contemporary middle grade readers and offer recommendations for anyone needing stories of hope, faith, and love.
Dana VanderLugt is a writer and teacher who descends from a family of Michigan apple growers and storytellers. Her first book, Enemies in the Orchard: A World War 2 Novel in Verse was published by Zonderkidz in September 2023. The middle grades novel is based on the stories of German POWs who came to work on her grandfather’s orchard during the 1940s. Dana’s work has been published in Longridge Review, Relief: A Journal of Art & Faith, the Michigan Reading Journal, and The Reformed Journal, where she is also a frequent contributor on its daily blog. A former middle school English teacher, Dana now works as a literacy consultant and has an MFA in Creative Writing from The Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She lives in Michigan with her husband, three sons, and a spoiled Golden Retriever. And yes, she makes a mean apple pie.
Karina Yan Glaser is a Newbery Honoree and a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. Originally from California, Karina came to New York City for college and has stuck around for nearly thirty years. She has had a varied career teaching and implementing literacy programs in family homeless shelters and recruiting healthcare professionals to volunteer in under resourced areas around the world. One of her proudest achievements is raising two kids who can’t go anywhere without a book. She lives in Harlem with her husband, two teenagers, two dogs, three cats, and a fish named Gustav. 
Books Mentioned in this Episode

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) 
By Dana VanderLugt:
Enemies in the Orchard: A WW2 Novel in Verse
By Karina Yan Glaser:
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
The Vanderbeekers Ever After (Book #7 in The Vanderbeekers Series)
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli 
Other Books Mentioned: 
The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary Schmidt
The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate 
Birdie by Eileen Spinelli
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
The Life by Carrie Fountain
Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life by Charlotte Donlon
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
 Owls and Other Fantasies by Mary Oliver

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

In this episode, C. Christopher Smith, founding editor of ERB, chats with poet Julie L. Moore, who is also the new producer of this podcast. Chris and Julie offer a behind-the-scenes look at the podcast and discuss Julie's hopes for her work as producer. They also discuss Julie's brand new collection of poems, Devil's Backbone, which arrives in bookstores this week.
A Best of the Net and eight-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Julie L. Moore is the author of five poetry collections, including, the brand new collection Devil's Backbone. Her previous collection, Full Worm Moon, won a 2018 Woodrow Hall Top Shelf Award and received honorable mention for the Conference on Christianity and Literature's 2018 Book of the Year Award. After directing two university Writing Centers for 20 years, Julie now lives in Indiana and works at Eastern University for its LifeFlex program as a Senior Online Advisor and First Year Composition Instructor.
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)
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
By Julie L. Moore :
Devil’s Backbone (brand new!)
Full Worm Moon
Particular Scandals
Slipping Out of Bloom
Other Books Mentioned

Poetry: 
Kiki Petrosino, Bright: A Memoir
Kiki Petrosino, White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia 
Naomi Shihab Nye, The Tiny Journalist
Claudia Rankine, Citizen 
Creative Nonfiction: 
Susanna Childress, Extremely Yours
Nonfiction:
Marilyn McIntyre, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies
Jemar Tisby, The Color of Compromise
Jemar Tisby, How to Fight Racism
Jemar Tisby, The Spirit of Justice
Willie James Jennings, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race 
Willie James Jennings,After Whiteness
Esau McCaulley, Reading While Black
James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree

In this episode, Chris Smith, founding editor of ERB, speaks with best-selling author Shannan Martin and first-time author Amar Peterman about the intersecting themes of faith, justice, and community in their new books. Their conversation explores the tension between life’s “heavy goodness” and its “undercurrent of grief,” demonstrating that "we can only counter what we're first willing to weigh," as Martin puts it. In addition, the authors explore the tension between one’s personal comfort and the call to “draw near in mercy” to our neighbors, especially those who are marginalized, as Peterman points out. Both authors emphasize that meaningful change begins not with grand gestures but with everyday relationships, accompanying our neighbors across lines of difference through joys and struggles. Overall, the episode, like the books, is not prescriptive but rather rooted deeply in how the authors work to cultivate a sense of belonging for everyone in their local neighborhoods.

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)

Books by Shannan Martin
Counterweights
The Ministry of Ordinary Places
Start with Hello
Falling Free

Work by Amar Peterman
Becoming Neighbors: The Common Good Made Local

Other Books Mentioned
A Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutiérrez
Paul Farmer: Servant to the Poor by Jennie Weiss Block
Make Your Home in this Luminous Dark by James K. Smith
God Without Being by Jean-Luc Marion
Hope for the Mission by Kevin Nye
Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times by Gregory Boyle

Kin by Tayari Jones (novel)

The Message, a Bible translation by Eugene Peterson

Joel hosted a fun and freewheeling discussion, with a stand-out panel of readers, of our favorite books from 2025. They discuss many books that were published in 2025, but not exclusively new titles, covering a wide swath of genres from biblical studies to young adult literature to poetry. There's something in this discussion for everyone!
Jessica Hooten Wilson is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University (’23). She co-hosts a podcast called The Scandal of Reading, and is the author of many books, including READING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD and THE SCANDAL OF HOLINESS.
Nijay K. Gupta is Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is the cohost of the Slow Theology podcast, and author of books including TELL HER STORY, STRANGE RELIGION, and many scriptural commentaries.
Dorothy Littell Greco is a writer, speaker, and photographer. Her writing has been featured in many publications including Christianity Today, Missio Alliance, and The Common Good and her most recent book is FOR THE LOVE OF WOMEN.
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) 
Reading for the Love of God: How to Read as a Spiritual Practice by Jessica Hooten Wilson
The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints by Jessica Hooten Wilson
Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught & Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay Gupta
Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous & Compelling by Nijay Gupta
Slow Theology: Eight Practices for Resilient Faith in a Turbulent World by Nijay Gupta & A.J. Swoboda
For the Love of Women: Uprooting and Healing Misogyny in America by Dorothy Littell Greco
The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward by Malcolm Foley
Redeeming Eden: How Women in the Bible Advance the Story of Salvation by Ingrid Faro with Joyce Koo Dalrymple
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri
Holes by Louis Sachar
Do Not Judge Anyone: Desert Wisdom for a Polarized World by Isaac Slater
Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another by Rowan Williams
Jesus and the Law of Moses: The Gospels and the Restoration of Israel Within First-Century Judaism by Paul Sloan 
Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good & Beautiful by Karen Swallow Prior
Romans: An Interpretation Bible Commentary by Susan Eastman
1 Corinthians: A Theological, Pastoral & Missional Commentary by Michael Gorman
For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional by Hanna Reichl
When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women by Sarah C. Williams
Nervous Systems: Spiritual Practices to Calm Anxiety in Your Body, the Church and Politics by Sara Billups
A Pilgrimage Into Letting Go: Helping Parents and Pastors Embrace the Uncontrollable by Kara Root & Andrew Root
Some of the Words are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon by Austic Carty