Inside "These Saints Are Stones": Millie Tullis on Her New Poetry Collection

After uncovering complex and, at times, troubling family history, Millie Tullis did what she does best: she wrote about it in verse. She joins Beth Brumer Reeve to discuss her new collection, These Saints Are Stones.

We talk about the process of researching her family history and what it means to sit with the unknown—how gaps in the archive can be approached with both truth and imagination. Millie shares how writing this collection became a healing act, helping her confront her roots and make sense of inherited history, faith, and identity.

We also explore the balance between vulnerability and restraint: how do you write honestly about family while deciding what to protect, if anything?

A thoughtful conversation for poetry lovers and anyone interested in Mormon history.

Millie Tullis is a poet, editor, and researcher from northern Utah. She holds an MFA from George Mason University and an MA in American Studies & Folklore from Utah State University. Her poetry has been published in Dialogist, Sugar House Review, Cimarron Review, Dialogue, Ninth Letter, and elsewhere. Her digital micro-chapbook, Dream with Teeth, was published by Ghost City Press in 2023. Her research has won awards from the Utah Historical Society, the Folklore Society of Utah, and the American Folklore Society. She is the editor-in-chief of Exponent II. Find more at millietullis.com.

You can also follow Millie Tullis on Instagram @millie_tullis.

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