Russell Thorburn · Poet

The Art and Memory of Henry Zender

Workshops, manuscript shaping, readings, and unmechanized writing.

News & Press

Interviews, readings, radio segments, and published poems — gathered from around the work.

A selection of recent pieces about Russell’s books, his collaborations with musicians, and his years as poet laureate — with a few earlier touchstones for the record.

  1. Apr 27, 2026

    WNMU-FM · Public Radio 90

    National Poetry Month 2026 — Russell Thorburn

    An audio segment with host Kurt Hauswirth, presenting Russell’s work as part of the station’s National Poetry Month programming.

  2. Feb 6, 2026

    Northern Today · Northern Michigan University

    Thorburn’s Poetry Features Cultural Legends in Imaginative Scenarios

    A feature on And the Heart Will Not Quicken and the book’s imagined encounters between musicians, poets, and literary legends across eras.

  3. Oct 15, 2025

    WNMU-FM · Northern Arts & Culture

    Russell Thorburn weaves poetry, music, and memory in new collection and library event

    A look at And the Heart Will Not Quicken and the launch reading at Peter White Public Library with saxophonist Patrick Booth and guitarist Dylan Trost.

  4. Jun 17, 2024

    Northern Today · Northern Michigan University

    Thorburn Records ‘Poetic Conversations’

    On the video podcast series Russell created at NMU’s Studio 102, featuring conversations with students about their favorite writers and writing processes.

  5. Sep 2, 2023

    The Mining Journal · Marquette

    Marquette poet pens new book

    A local feature announcing Let It Be Told in a Single Breath and its locations — the Upper Peninsula, Detroit, Los Angeles, and the Mojave National Preserve.

  6. Aug 30, 2023

    WNMU-FM · Public Radio 90 (audio interview)

    “Let It Be Told In A Single Breath” — an interview with poet Russell Thorburn

    Hans Ahlstrom speaks with Russell about the forthcoming Cornerstone Press collection.

  7. Jan 21, 2022

    Streetlight Magazine · Poem

    A Radio with Guts

    A poem on a broken Philco radio that Russell’s father kept trying to repair in the cellar — youth, manhood, and the mystery of paternal devotion.

  8. Oct 27, 2017

    WMUK · Between the Lines

    Between the Lines: Russell Thorburn

    A radio conversation about Somewhere We’ll Leave the World — war, personal journeys, and healing.

  9. Oct 8, 2014

    Michigan Public · Burden of Place series

    Writers from the UP: Russell Thorburn

    A featured poem about surviving the U.P. winter, presented as part of the statewide series on writers and place.

  10. Jul 27, 2013

    The Mining Journal · Marquette

    Upper Peninsula’s Poet

    The announcement of Russell’s selection as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, chosen from nominations gathered at more than a hundred regional libraries and bookstores.


Booking & press

For interviews, reading requests, or review copies of the forthcoming All That My Body Can Bear, please write to Russell directly.