
MQR Sound
Some things are better seen and heard. Listen to author-recorded performances of poems from recent MQR issues.

Summer 2025 | Deema Shehabi reads "Sun Theater Sonnet" – MQR Sound
A note about the work "Sun Theater Sonnets" (Stanzas 5-7) from Deema Shehabi for the Michigan Quarterly Review's Summer 2025 issue: I wrote this poem as an exploration of how daughters are perpetual placeholders for their mothers even after a mother’s death. This is manifested as inheriting the mother’s memories as one’s own, which can be enriching yet challenging due to the lack of differentiation that can occur. It took me years to understand my memories as distinct from hers. What remains, however, is nature’s solace as a backdrop for memories, both hers and, in turn, mine.Â
- Summer 2025 | Deema Shehabi reads "Sun Theater Sonnet"
- Spring 2025 | Ezza Ahmed Reads "War is always silent until it's done"
- Spring 2025 | Anni Liu Reads "Foreshadow Work"
- Spring 2025 | Sanjana Bijlani Reads "It's safe to say"
- Winter 2025 | Laurie Blauner Reads "The Florist"
- Winter 2025 | Amy Benson Reads "Ditch and Drain, Fill and Build"
- Winter 2025 | Hema Padhu Reads "The Ant and the Grasshopper"
- Winter 2025 | Diya Abbas Reads "on hunger"
- Winter 2025 | Sanjana Thakur Reads "My Left Hand, Unholy"
- Winter 2025 | Leyla Loued-Khenissi Reads "Blue Skies, Birdsong"