Welcome once again to Word on the Hills with me Felicity Sidnell Reid and our studio editor Anne Sidnell. This week we’re broadcasting our new Christmas program for 2024. Our guests today are storytellers well known to you, Gwynn Scheltema, Christopher Cameron, Ron Mackay and poet, Katie Hoogendam. Gwynn’s story, set in Zimbabwe, recalls how her mother celebrated Christmas in a tropical setting, while Ron’s story is about a young woman struggling to achieve her ambitions in Tenerife. Chris has once again written a new story for this show and Katie will read one of her collection of poems, which she has just released as a chapbook to celebrate the Winter Solstice.
Katie Hoogendam
Katie Hoogendam
Join us as we welcome Katie Hoogendam. MERKAT (Meredith Katherine Hoogendam) is a poet, writer and interdisciplinary artist; other incarnations include high school teacher and local community radio host and producer (currently Nightfall with Merkat, for 89.7). Folklore, feminism, archetype and the natural world inform her work. Her writing and images appear in publications across the U.S. and Canada, including Room Magazine, Geez Magazine, Mutha and catapult, among others. Her play, Plan X, debuted at the 2019 Northumberland Festival of the Arts. Spring Thaw, her third collection of poetry, dropped spring 2022 from Glentula Press. She is currently at work on her fourth collection of poetry, entitled Materials at Hand. Find her on Instagram @merkatart.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Katie Hoogendam
Today we talk to Meredith K. Hoogendam (Katie/Merkat) is a poet, writer, mother & interdisciplinary artist—including work as a voice over artist and sometime radio host on this station. A former high school teacher and home school educator, she remains interested in educational theory and practice. Folklore, feminism, and a deep love for the natural world inform her art. Her work appears in publications across the U.S. and Canada, including Geez, Mutha & catapult, among others. Her play, Plan X, debuted at the 2019 Spirit of the Hills Northumberland Arts Festival, and her poem “Courage,” was short-listed for Room Magazine’s 2019 Poetry contest. Her most recent collection of poems, Spring Thaw (Glentula Press) launched at Let’s Talk Books in April 2022 as part of their spring reading series. Her next poetry project, Grief Forest, is in the works for 2023. You can find her on Instagram @merkatart.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Word on the Hills Radio Program 