University of Iowa alumna Katie Phillips’ poem “Driving Montana, Alone” will be read on public radio’s “The Writer’s Almanac” on Friday. Garrison Keillor will read the poem, which won the Slapering Hol Press 2010 Chapbook Contest.

Driving Montana, Alone is a collection of poems that covers everything from loneliness to loss and to sorrow. Phillips uses simple language to describe the natural and human made world.

Phillips lived in Montana for a while before moving to the Chicago suburbs with her husband and dog. The poems in the collection cover her experiences while still living in Montana.

Her work has been published in numerous reviews, including the White Pelican Review, and in 2006, she was a finalist for an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship.

— by Samantha Gentry