December 21, 2010 — Poetry has long been used to celebrate love and family, but it has also always documented the dark times in human life. Tune in to "With Good Reason,"  airing on several Virginia public radio stations between Dec. 25 and 31, to hear three Virginia professors discuss "Poetry in a Recession."

English professor Lisa Russ Spaar of the University of Virginia's College of Arts & Sciences will explore how a familiar place changes through time in her poem, "Empty Nest." Spaar is the recent winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a frequent essayist on the subject of how poets' personal examinations intersect with a desire to understand humanity.

Bob Hicok of Virginia Tech, who worked for 20 years in the automotive industry, will explore through his poems the lives of family and friends coping with economic devastation in Michigan. 

Also, many scholars have believed that nonsense literature in the vein of Lewis Carroll or Edward Gorey is a strictly English language innovation. But Kevin Shortsleeve of Christopher Newport University has a new book documenting nonsense literature from all over the world. 

Broadcast times are posted here.

Audio files of full programs and companion news features are posted Fridays to the With Good Reason website.