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The Art of Departure

A conversation with poet Maureen Sherbondy about her third collection of poetry

In this first week of 2016, many people are reflecting on the good and bad moments of the past year and what resolutions they have for the coming months. For poet Maureen Sherbondy this meditation on change is an important and ongoing process that served as the inspiration for her latest collection of poetry, “The Art of Departure.”

In the first half of the collection, she explores the many ways one deals with losses like death, divorce, and children leaving the home. And in the second half, she looks at how people come to terms with their new lives after drastic change.

Host Frank Stasio talks with poet Maureen Sherbondy about her third collection of poetry, “The Art of Departure” (Kelsay Books/2015).

Sherbondy's three sons Zachary, Ethan and Jacob in Rodin's Garden in Paris. They are one of many subjects featured in her new poetry collection "The Art of Departure."
Maureen Sherbondy /
Sherbondy's three sons Zachary, Ethan and Jacob in Rodin's Garden in Paris. They are one of many subjects featured in her new poetry collection "The Art of Departure."

Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.