Christine Cowley

Collector of Stories, Explorer of Perspectives

Ronna Bloom

Podcasts

Imagine sitting in a hospital waiting room awaiting the results of tests for something potentially—well…not good news. A woman with a kind face and a soothing voice takes a seat beside you and asks something you are completely unprepared for: “Would you like a poem?”

You’re stunned for a moment, but to your own surprise you nod, yes. She chooses a poem that, when you read it, goes straight to that terrifying place inside of possibly getting the worst news ever. And then, the poem chosen for you begins to do some of the most important work that mere words can do: healing.

As Poet in Residence at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Ronna Bloom, founder of Rx for Poetry, takes poetry straight to where the hurt lives. In January 2017, Ronna joined Storylines to share inspiring stories of how encounters with poetry can “articulate what has not yet been said.”

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First Series: WHAT THE DAY DOES NOT KNOW, prequel to ALL THE DAY ALLOWS.

Twenty-year-old Marjory McAllister is running out of time. If she doesn’t act soon, her overbearing aunt will push her into a loveless marriage and small-town life. So, when a handsome stranger calls out for missionaries to northern Africa, the summons seems like an answer to prayer. But Marjory’s storybook notions about missionary service are about to meet with a fierce awakening.

Inspired by true accounts of Canadian missionaries in Nigeria and Ethiopia in the 1930s, ALL THE DAY ALLOWS explores a little-known nugget of Canadian history. In its prequel, WHAT THE DAY DOES NOT KNOW, Marjory must face harsh truths about her own motives.