New Letters, the international magazine of writing and art, is hosting an online audio interview with poet Janice N. Harrington, conducted by New Letters’ Editor Robert Stewart.

During the interview, Harrington read selections from “The Hands of Strangers: Poems from the Nursing Home,” a collection recounting Harrington’s difficult, sometimes graphic experiences at her first job, a nurse’s aide in a nursing home.

“I wanted to make a sort of monument in words to these people,” Harrington said of the residents. “I wanted them not to be forgotten.”

Though she came to writing late, having spent nearly two decades as a librarian and professional storyteller, Harrington’s first children’s book, “Going North,” won the prestigious Ezra Jack Keats Award for emerging children’s book authors. Her writings and poetry are inspired in part by her early childhood in Alabama.

To hear a podcast of Harrington’s interview, visit the website and click on “ways to listen” under New Letters on the Air. Harrington’s interview is also available for purchase as part of the New Letters on the Air archive.

Since its beginning as a radio show in 1977, New Letters on the Air has produced over 1,200 programs and is the longest continuously running broadcast of a national literary radio series. The New Letters website also features information about manuscript submission, its annual writing contests, new releases from BkMk Press and a comprehensive literary arts calendar for the Kansas City region.

New Letters is a pioneer in the field of literary arts journals, and is published by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Subscriptions are available for $22 a year. Visit www.newletters.org or call (816) 235-1168.