Finally, after a long break, Waves Breaking returns with this interview with Kamden Ishmael Hilliard. Kam generously shares their time with me to discuss their debut book of poems, MissSettl, out last year with Nightboat Books. We go in deep to discuss their thoughts around the sentence, modes of speech, writing poems within this current era of late-stage capitalism, and teaching students. Kamden Ishmael Hilliard was born in La Jolla, CA; their fam settled on O'ahu, Hawai'i. Kamden holds a BA in American Studies from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers ..read more

Photo of Yanyi, taken by him In this episode I spoke with Yanyi about his new book, Dream of the Divided Field, and his newsletter, The Reading. Yanyi is the author of Dream of the Divided Field (One World Random House, 1 March 2022) and The Year of Blue Water (Yale University Press 2019), winner of the 2018 Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize. His work has been featured in or at NPR’s All Things Considered, New York Public Library, Granta, and New England Review, and he is the recipient of fellowships from Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Poets House. He holds an MFA in Poetry from New Yor ..read more

In this interview, I spoke with Sarah Nnenna Loveth Nwafor about their latest publication Already Knew You Were Coming. We discuss Igbo cosmology and time, vengeance poetry, their process in writing this chapbook, and more. Sarah Nnenna Loveth Nwafor (They/Them) is a queer Igbo-American Poet, Educator, and Facilitator who descends of a powerful ancestry. They believe that storytelling is magick, and they speak to practice traditions of Igbo orature. When they witness, their forebears are pleased. Sarah has been writing for a minute and is learning something new about their voice each year, but ..read more

In this episode, I spoke with féi hernandez about Hood Criatura, their poetry collection released in 2020. We also spoke about their incredible skills as an illustrator, and féi recommends some fantastic reads. féi hernandez (b.1993 Chihuahua, Mexico) is a trans, Inglewood- raised, formerly undocumented immigrant artist, writer, healer. They have been published in POETRY, Pank Magazine, Oxford Review of Books, Frontier Poetry, The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext, amongst others. They are a Define American Fellow for 2021 and are currently the Board President of Gender Justice Los Angeles. f ..read more

In this episode, I spoke with Larkin Christie about their book gather all your supple creatures.  Larkin Christie is a queer poet living on unceded Pocumtuc land in what is currently known as Western Massachusetts. Their second collection, gather all your supple creatures, is out now. Their creative work draws on experiences as an educator, organizer, and dancer.  Larkin's website Larkin's Instagram Go buy gather all your supple creatures!   Quotes, workshop, and media mentioned in this episode: In Surreal Life, workshop   Honeyfitz, band   From Lar ..read more

In this episode, I spoke with KB about their zine “A New Relationship to Pain,” their relationship to poetry, the pandemic, working as a poet and educator, and more. KB is from Stop Six, Fort Worth, Texas. They are a Black queer nonbinary poet, educator, student affairs professional, and lover of most plants/people. They want to be your friend as well as your reminder to think in abundance. They have words published in Cincinnati Review, Puerto Del Sol, Palette Poetry, and other equally pretty places. Their chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound (Kallisto Gaia Press, 2022) won the 2020 ..read more

In this episode I spoke with Rainie Oet about their recent publication Glorious Veils of Diane. Content warning: We talk a lot about blood and some about self-harming Rainie Oet is a nonbinary writer and game designer, former Editor-in-Chief of Salt Hill Journal, and the author of Glorious Veils of Diane (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2021), as well as two other books: Porcupine in Freefall and Inside Ball Lightning. They have an MFA in Poetry from Syracuse University, where they were awarded the Shirley Jackson Prize in Fiction.  Rainie's website R ..read more

In this episode, I dive deep into one poem with its authors, Anaïs Duplan and imogen xtian smith. Tune in for our conversation about of art, love, and utopias. Anaïs Duplan is a trans* poet, curator, and artist. He is the author of a book of essays, Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture (Black Ocean, 2020), a full-length poetry collection, Take This Stallion (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2016), and a chapbook, Mount Carmel and the Blood of Parnassus (Monster House Press, 2017). He has taught poetry at the University of Iowa, Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence ..read more

In this episode I spoke with noor ibn najam about her recent work and writing process. they also discussed showing work to friends and skill-sharing. Sorry that the intro and outro audio is a little wonky this time around, but my interview with noor is still good. noor is a poet who teases, challenges, breaks, and creates language. she's received fellowships from Callaloo and The Watering Hole and is a recent resident of the Vermont Studio Center. her poems have been published and anthologized with DIAGRAM, ANMLY, The Academy of American Poets, the Rumpus, Bettering American Poetry, and others ..read more

This month’s guest is Aeon Ginsberg. We dug into their recently published book Greyhound and also talked about PoBiz/Big Lit, death, and teeth poetry. Aeon Ginsberg (they/them) is an agender transfeminine writer and performer from Baltimore City, MD. They are the author of Greyhound, the 2019 winner of the Noemi Press Poetry Prize, and their work has been published in various magazines in print and online. Aeon is a Taurus, a bartending, and a bitch. Aeon’s website Aeon’s Twitter account Go get Greyhound! Writers, news, books, events mentioned in this episode: Aeon’s previous chapbooks: Un ..read more