The Poet Speaks: William Morris

**The Poet Speaks** is a new series from *Dialogue Out Loud* featuring poets reading their own work from the pages of *Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought* and reflecting on the inspiration, craft, and questions behind their poems.

In this inaugural episode, poet **William Morris** reads his poem, **”Samuel Returns,”** from the Summer 2026 issue of *Dialogue*. Reimagining the Book of Mormon prophet Samuel the Lamanite, the poem explores what it might have meant to answer God’s call to return to a people who had already rejected him. Through vivid imagery and lyrical language, Morris invites listeners into Samuel’s courage, sorrow, hope, and unwavering commitment to prophecy.

Following the reading, Morris reflects on the poem’s origins, his writing process, and the themes at the heart of the work. *The Poet Speaks* offers listeners the opportunity to experience poems as they were meant to be heard—in the poet’s own voice—and to gain fresh insight into the creative process behind each piece.

**William Morris** is the author of *Dark Watch and Other Mormon-American Stories* and the founder of the Mormon arts blog *A Motley Vision*, which received an Association for Mormon Letters Award for criticism. He also edited the Peculiar Pages anthologies *Monsters & Mormons* and *States of Deseret*. A longtime contributor to *Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought*, Morris’s fiction, poetry, essays, and criticism have appeared in the journal for many years. His short stories **”Certain Places”** (Summer 2022) and **”The Ward Organist”** (Winter 2022) were both adapted as immersive audio stories for the *Dialogue Out Loud* podcast, featuring original music and soundscapes. Morris lives in Minnesota with his wife and daughter.