This episode celebrates poetry, local voices, parks, biodiversity, and the art of paying attention to the natural world around us. Carrie George and Charles Malone, two co-editors of Light Enters the Grove: Exploring Cuyahoga National Park through Poetry, share how this literary field guide focusing on the plants, animals, and birds found within CVNP came together. From assigning writers species at random (but with some serendipitous results) to publishing unexpected nature poems to encouraging artists to lace up their hiking boots to traverse our national parks, this episode has you covered. Grab your trail guide, splash on some bug spray, and join us for a poetic expedition.

Light Enters the Grove will represent Ohio at the 2025 National Book Festival as part of the Great Reads from Great Places initiative. The print anthology was edited by Charles Malone, Carrie George, and Jason Harris and published by The Kent State University Press in 2024. All poems in the anthology, as well as additional pieces, can be read online at the CVNP Poetic Inventory site. Finally, learn more about Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Poems shared on the podcast:

• “White-Tailed Deer” by Benjamin Rhodes
• “Everyone Knows a Killdeer Means No Harm” by Mary Biddinger
• “Knuckle” by Conor Bracken
• “Variation on Wings” by Kortney Morrow
• “Star Jelly” by Cameron Gordon
• “Fishing Spider” by Charles Malone
• “Blight of the American Chestnut” by Carrie George

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.