Poet thinks about the world of birds and the less-than-ideal life

by Zinta Aistars

Gail Martin

Now and then, I interview Michigan authors on WMUK 102.1 FM radio, the NPR affiliate station in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Love doing it. The interviews are aired on the Arts and More program, which comes on twice a week, and portions of the interview are then aired throughout the day.

On Tuesday, October 1, at 7:50 a.m., tune in to hear my interview with poet Gail Martin, winner of the Perugia Press Prize 2013, for her new poetry collection, Begin Empty-Handed. Listen to it on your radio or listen to it online. For live radio, click on "Listen WMUK" in the upper left corner. To hear the full interview (15:48), click on "Listen" in the middle of the page and enjoy at your convenience.

VISIT WMUK RADIO ONLINE NOW.

Reviewers have said the book moves between life as we expect it and life as it is.

“It speaks, I think, to our need to make space for both the wonder and miracle of everyday living, but also the harsh pain of knowing that all that we are attached to and all that we love will ultimately be taken away,” says Martin. “I have a strong identification with the ideal so I tend to be disappointed a lot when life doesn’t live up to that. So I need to work to stay open to the possibility that life being different than what I thought it was going to be means that it’s different, not necessarily that it’s less.”