In 2017, poet Raymond Antrobus stepped into a Durham classroom and met Thomas, an 11-year-old with silver hearing aids whose curiosity changed the writer’s life. Their brief exchange now anchors Antrobus’s forthcoming memoir, The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound, an exploration of deafness, poetry, and the search for meaning.

Former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo delves into the complexities of a daughter’s grief in her new book *Washing My Mother’s Body*. Through intimate reflections on her mother’s life, Harjo explores profound themes of loss, love, and memory.