The WildStory: A Podcast of Poetry and Plants by The Native Plant Society of New Jersey
The Wildstory: A Podcast of Poetry and Plants by The Native Plant Society of New Jersey, is hosted by Ann E. Wallace, Poet Laureate of Jersey City. Art and nature intercept in each episode to bring listeners inside the world of poetry about the natural world and to introduce them to other well-known voices from the world of ecology. It is an independent project of The Native Plant Society of New Jersey, a state-wide nonprofit organization dedicated to the appreciation, protection, and study of the native flora of NJ. Learn more at npsnj.org.
Episode 25: Poet Holli Carrell, NPSNJ President Kazys Varnelis and Mary Anne Borge, Editor of Butterfly Gardener Magazine
This month’s featured poet is Holli Carrell, whose debut collection Apostasies was recently published by Perugia Press. Holli speaks about her personal process of reflection and discovery—including an intentional turn toward the natural world—after leaving the Mormon church of her upbringing.
In Ask Randi, Dr. Randi Eckel, Owner of ToadShade Wildflower Farm, tackles a listener’s question about Oleander aphids and explains why buying ladybugs isn’t the best approach to eliminating them.
In Five Questions, President of the Native Plant Society of NJ, Kazys Varnelis, shares the lineup for Weird N...
Episode 24: Poet Lynne Shapiro, Chris Martine, President-Elect Botanical Society of America and Jean Epiphan, Assoc. Professor of Ecology Rutgers University
This episode features poet Lynne Shapiro (0:2:29) of Hoboken, New Jersey, who speaks with Ann about her collection To Set Right, published in 2021 by WordTech Editions, and about her work in progress. Lynne’s work holds space for the life we can and cannot see. She talks with Ann about the importance of returns, learning to see, and the persistence of nature, and reminds us that, to truly know a place, we must look upward and study the sky.
In this Ask Randi segment, Dr. Randi Eckel (0:33:10) answers a question from Eilika about native alternatives to...
Episode 23: Poet Charise Hoge, Urban Naturalist and Birder Ken Chaya and Children's Author Mélina Mangal
Today’s featured poet is Charise Hoge (0:03:35) whose latest collection, Inheritance of Flowers, came out this spring from Kelsay Books. Reflecting on her grandmother’s legacy as a southern flower shop owner, Charise speaks with Ann about ancestry, belonging, and our internal connections with nature that are sustaining even in times of upheaval and hibernation.
In the Ask Randi segment, Dr. Randi Eckel (0:29:27) dives into New Jersey’s game-changing Bill S1029, which was just passed by the State Senate. This bill tackles the sale of invasive plants and creates an Invasive Species Council—huge wins for o...
Poet and Firefighter Ibe Liebenberg, William Cullina Executive Director of Morris Arboretum & Gardens, Kelly D. Norris, Award-Winning Author and Ecological Horticulturist
Today’s featured poet is Ibe Liebenberg (0:03:51) who joins Ann Wallace to talk about his new collection, Birds at Night, published in 2025 by Texas Tech University Press. Ibe is a member of the Chickasaw nation, as well as a firefighter from Paradise, California. With wildfires causing increasing destruction across the nation in recent years, we have wanted to speak with a firefighter on The WildStory—and this conversation with Ibe does not disappoint. It is a reflective one, highlighting the intertwining threads—of land, migration, and ancestry, of family and memory, of fire, loss and healing—contained within his poetry.
Episode 21: Poet Theta Pavis, Pollinator Conservationist Heather Holm, Author Paula Whyman
In this episode, featured poet Theta Pavis (0:03:00) speaks with Ann Wallace about her new chapbook, The Red Strobe, which just came out from Finishing Line Press. Theta’s work is marked by grief and pain, but also love, family, protection, and a fierce kind of resilience—as can be seen in the garden her mother created many years ago, a garden which is now Theta’s, in her Jersey City yard. Follow Theta online at ThetaPavis.com
Randi Eckel returns for a brand-new Ask Randi segment about NPSNJ's upcoming BioBlitz, (0:34:31) to celebrate National Native Plant Mo...
Episode 20: Shaun Spencer Hester of the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum, Jerri Mitchell-Lee , grand niece of Effie Lee Newsome and Abra Lee of Oakland Cemetery
The WildStory: A Podcast of Poetry and Plants
by the Native Plant Society of New Jersey
Hosted byAnn E. Wallace, PhD
Poet Laureate Emeritus of Jersey City
Co-hostKim Correro,
Rutgers Master Gardener and Director of State Programs
Special ContributorDr. Randi Eckel
Entomologist and Vice President of Membership NPSNJ
Do you have a question about native plants for Randi?
Email: TheWildStory@npsnj.org
The WildStory pr...
Episode 19: Poet James Crews, Podcast Hosts Fran Chismar, Tom Knezick and Urban Naturalist Joanna Brichetto
Our featured poet is James Crews, (0:3:54) who speaks with Ann Wallace about his new book, Unlocking the Heart: Writing for Mindfulness, Courage, and Compassion from Mandala Publishing. James offers wisdom about all that we can learn from the natural world, when we allow ourselves to quiet the ever-present din, open our senses, and refocus our attention. Knowing this is easier said than done, James generously offers a prompt for mindfulness and writing after every poem in his collection, inviting each of us to develop our own observational and reflective practice. Trust us, this is a conversation you need to ca...
Episode 18: Poet Elizabeth Sylvia, Memoirist Elissa Altman and Podcast Host Margaret Roach
Today’s featured poet is Elizabeth Sylvia, (03:39) who speaks with Ann Wallace about her new manuscript Eating Cake in the Garden with Marie Antoinette, as well as her 2022 collection, None But Witches: Poems on Shakespeare’s Women (Three Mile Harbor Press). They spoke about Marie Antoinette’s model farm, a product of opulent privilege but also a site of refuge at a time of revolution, and the unexpected connections to our current moment of climate crisis. Elizabeth’s pastoral poems are tender and intimate, inviting us to walk around the garden, lay in the meadow, and feed the bees with her. F...
Episode 17: Poet Nadia Colburn, Author Sarah F. Jayne & Doug Tallamy, Co-Founder of Homegrown National Park
Episode 17 features poet Nadia Colburn (03:47), who joins Ann Wallace from Massachusetts to speak about her new collection, I Say the Sky, published this year by University of Kentucky Press. Nadia’s collection is a work of meditative healing, moving from silence into power. She invites us to see ourselves reflected in nature, and that poetry, in the words of Audre Lorde, indeed is not a luxury.
Next up, Kim Correro speaks with Sarah F. Jayne (0:37:29)about her new book Nature’s Action Guide: How to Support Biodiversity and Your Local Ecosystem. Sarah’s book, a companion t...
Episode 16: Poet Penny Harter, Naturalist Mark Garland and Naturalist Pat Sutton
This episode of The WildStory is all about the southernmost point in New Jersey—beautiful Cape May, known to beachgoers as a summer destination. But for nature lovers, September is migration season and the very best time to head to Cape May. Which is exactly what many of us from the Native Plant Society of New Jersey will be doing, for a special trip to Cape May the weekend of September 27th through the 29th. The retreat sold out faster than we anticipated, but we wanted to share some of the wonders of the area with you in this ep...
Episode 15: Poet Barbara Kingsolver, Director of Horticulture Katie Bliss and Naturalist Nancy Lawson
This episode features an interview with best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver (0:04:34) from 2022. It was recorded for The WildStory’s predecessor, an Instagram series called Saturday Morning Poetry, hosted by the Hudson County Chapter of NPSNJ. Barbara Kingsolver is of course most widely known for her brilliant novels, but she is also a poet with two published collections. In this interview, recorded a week before the release of the internationally acclaimed novel Demon Copperhead, we talked about Barbara’s 2020 poetry collection How to Fly (in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons), leaning into poetry’s capacity for delight and whimsy with a conversation about tr...
Episode 14: Poet Kai Coggin, Ecological Horticulturalist Rebecca McMackin and Botanist Jared Rosenbaum
In episode 14, Kai Coggin, Poet Laureate of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and host of Wednesday Night Poetry (0:02:56), talks with Ann Wallace about her new book Mother of Other Kingdoms, published in April 2024 by Harbor Editions. Kai speaks about the many ways in which the tender act of mothering living things, whether wild or human, has enriched her life and provides sustaining lessons on finding joy and wonder through difficult times.
In Ask Randi, Dr. Randi Eckel, the native plant expert for NPSNJ and owner of Toadshade Wildflower Farm (0:35:34), explains why native Jewelweed is hard to find for s...
Episode 13: Poet Camille T. Dungy, Designer Claudia West and New Jersey Artist Susan Darwin
In episode 13, Camille T. Dungy (0:03:00), a renowned poet, essayist, and memoirist, joins Ann Wallace in conversation about her book Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, published by Simon and Schuster in 2023 and now out in paperback. Soil is a book that invites us into Camille’s native plant prairie project at her home in Colorado, but it is also about much more than that, taking us back to the year 2020 and making record not only of the story of a garden but of the context—familial, national, historical, ecological, social—from which it sprang.
In Ask...
Episode 12: Poet and Wildlife Ecologist J. Drew Lanham, Urban Ecologist Marielle Anzelone and Marni Fylling discusses the nature just outside your door.
In episode 12, we reflect on the nature that is close at hand, in our backyards, neighborhoods, and nearby wild places—as our featured guests invite us into the habitats they explore, celebrate, and help preserve—and share the joy those spaces spark.
First, J. Drew Lanham (02:49)—poet, ecologist, and ornithologist—speaks with Ann about his new book Joy is the Justice We Give Ourselves, and the lessons he learned from his grandmother about seeking out joy in whatever places we might find it, as a way of living and of being. For Drew, that joy is of...
Episode 11: Poet Ross Gay, The Book of (More) Delights, Author Margaret Renkl and Illustrator Billy Renkl, The Comfort of Crows
Hosted by Ann E. Wallace, PhD
Poet Laureate of Jersey City
Co-host Kim Correro,
Rutgers Master Gardener
Special Contributor Dr. Randi Eckel
Entomologist and Vice President of Membership of NPSNJ
Do you have a question about native plants for Randi?
Email: TheWildStory@npsnj.org
In this episode, we reflect on the passage of time – as we hear from two authors who each created books that span the course of a single year, leading us into joy and so...
Episode 10: Poet Lauren Camp and Uli Lorimer, Director of Horticulture at Native Plant Trust
In this episode, Lauren Camp, (02.38) Poet Laureate of New Mexico, speaks with Ann Wallace about her recent collection Worn Smooth Between Devourings (NYQ Books, 2023), as well as In Old Sky, forthcoming in April from Grand Canyon Conservancy. We discuss the intensification of attention required for writing the desert landscape, the limits and opportunities offered by language, and the ways that a place can transform us.
We then hear from Dr. Randi Eckel (32.33) who answers a listener's question about fragrant native plants for the garden in a new installment of Ask Randi. And Kim Correro speaks with...
Episode 9: Poet Adrie Rose and Land Stewards John and Susan Landau
In this episode, poet and herbalist Adrie Rose speaks with Ann Wallace (02:22) about her new chapbook Rupture, published last month by Gold Line Press. They discuss the pain Adrie experienced following a life-threatening ruptured ectopic pregnancy, along with other losses, and how poetry, nature, and native plants together allow space for the cycles of grief and healing.
Dr. Randi Eckel (34:51) provides information on the upcoming Spring Annual Meeting & Conference on March 2nd and answers Cara's question about ways to use the overabundance of fallen leaves in her garden for a new installment of Ask Randi.
Co-host Kim C...
Episode 8: Poet Tess Taylor, Native Plant Advocate Janet Crouch and Special Guest Rachel Mackow
Poet Tess Taylor (2:10) speaks with Ann Wallace about her new anthology Leaning Toward Light: Poems for Gardens and the Hands That Tend Them (Storey Publishing, 2023) and the ability of poems to carry us through the seasons of planting, tending, grieving, harvesting, sharing in a world filled with both joy and crisis. We reflect on the deliberate cultivation of happiness as a discipline, and at the end of our conversation, we spend some time with Tess’s most recent solo collection, Rift Zone, published in 2020 by Red Hen Press. We then hear from Dr. Randi Eckel (36:24) who shares information about NPSNJ's...
Episode 7: Poet Emily Hockaday and Elaine Silverstein, NPSNJ Vice President of Chapters
Poet Emily Hockaday (2:07) speaks with Ann Wallace about her new poetry collection, In a Body, published in October 2023 by Harbor Editions. Emily discusses the layered ways in which new motherhood, the death of her father, a diagnosis of fibromyalgia—as well as science and ecology—have shaped Emily’s work, much of which she composed while walking with her child on the trails of Forest Park in Queens, New York. We then hear from Dr. Randi Eckel (32:52) about the new NPSNJ programs that members can look forward to in 2024. Also, in this episode, Randi answers a question from Gail about u...
Episode 6: Guest Host N. West Moss interviews Jersey City Poet Laureate Ann E. Wallace and we talk with Best-Selling Author Brie Arthur about Alpha Gal Syndrome and more.
Guest host N. West Moss, author of the memoir Flesh and Blood (Algonquin Press), joins us for the opening interview of this episode. West turns the tables to interview The WildStory host and Jersey City Poet Laureate Ann E. Wallace about her new poetry collection, Days of Grace and Silence: A Chronicle of COVID’s Long Haul, forthcoming from Kelsay Books in winter 2024. They speak about Ann’s isolation and turn to writing when she fell ill at the start of the pandemic and through her long recovery, but also about community and the presence of nature as a remi...
Episode 5: Migration with Poet Susan Glass and Don Torino, President of Bergen County Audubon Society
Poet Susan Glass, who has been blind since birth, speaks with Ann Wallace about the integral role birds have played in her life—and in her poetry—as she uses their songs and calls to locate herself, spatially and metaphorically, in the natural world. She also brings listeners into the creative process of completing her chapbook The Wild Language of Deer, published in 2022 by Slate Roof Press. It is a collection filled with delight, birdsong, and wonder.
Dr. Randi Eckel announces what members can expect from this year's NPSNJ Fall Conference, Hidden In Plain Sight: The Outstanding Natural Diversit...
Episode 4: Poet Christine Klocek-Lim and Author Jennifer Jewell on her new book What We Sow
In this episode, poet Christine Klocek-Lim talks with Ann Wallace about the ways in which her work engages with nature, whether she is taking us onto the trail with her or creating the sequence of persona poems in her new chapbook Nomenclatura, forthcoming from Glass Lyre Press. Christine reflects on the human history held within seemingly wild spaces, the precarity of life, and the communal element of the being outdoors. We then hear from Dr. Randi Eckel for a new installment of Ask Randi. And co-host Kim Correro joins Ann in conversation with Jennifer Jewell, host of the podcast C...
Episode 3: Poet January Gill O’Neil and Landscape designer Edwina von Gal
Poet January Gill O’Neil speaks with Ann Wallace about her new collection, Glitter Road, forthcoming from CavanKerry Press in February 2024. January discusses her year as the John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi, and her immersion in the difficult cultural history of the south, as laid against its rich and fertile landscape. She also reflects on the ways in which the pandemic, which began toward the end of residency, allowed time for family, writing, and observation of the natural world. We then hear from Dr. Randi Eckel about the new season of NPSNJ webinars during th...
Episode 2: Lisbeth White, author of American Sycamore, and Katy Lyness, Botanical Illustrator
Episode 2: Lisbeth White, a poet from Washington State and author of American Sycamore (Perugia Press, 2022) speaks with Ann Wallace about how ancestry, myth, and stories are contained within the American landscape, reflecting on the simultaneous beauty and historic violence evoked and held within the trees and waterways of this nation, and how ritual might help restore connection to the land. We also hear from Dr. Randi Eckel, President of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey, about the upcoming trip to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. And co-host Kim Correro joins Ann Wallace for a lively conversation with...
Episode 1: Poet Sati Mookherjee and Kim Rowe of the Independent Garden Center Initiative
Episode 1: Sati Mookherjee, a poet from the Pacific Northwest, speaks with Ann Wallace about her new collection Ways of Being (MoonPath Press, 2023) and the way grief, language, and the natural world intersect within her work. NPSNJ President Dr. Randi Eckel discusses the role of cultivars in our gardens. Co-host Kim Correro then joins in for a conversation with Kim Rowe, leader of the Monmouth Chapter of NPSNJ, about the Independent Garden Center Initiative and strategic efforts to bring more native plants into New Jersey’s nurseries. Learn more about The WildStory and about The Native Plant Society of Jersey at...
