web02.fireside.fm Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:06:11 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Story Behind the Story - Episodes Tagged with “Poetry” https://story.fireside.fm/tags/poetry Fri, 06 Dec 2024 12:00:00 -0800 Host Clara Sherley-Appel interviews authors about their creative process, from the inspiration behind the books they write to specific choices they make. en-us episodic Stories about stories and how they came to be Clara Sherley-Appel Host Clara Sherley-Appel interviews authors about their creative process, from the inspiration behind the books they write to specific choices they make. no books, book show, author interviews, interviews, stories Clara Sherley-Appel clara@ksqd.org Episode 50: Tanzila Ahmed - GRASPING AT THIS PLANET JUST TO BELIEVE https://story.fireside.fm/50 350bc16f-bb9b-4b51-81b7-88bf949429ba Fri, 06 Dec 2024 12:00:00 -0800 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel Clara talks to poet, artist, and activist Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed about her poetry collection GRASPING AT THIS PLANET JUST TO BELIEVE. 56:10 no For ten years, Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed organized an annual poem-a-day project during the month of Ramadan. She began the project as an alternative form of reflection to prayer, which she had struggled to connect with, shortly after the death of her mother. In the decade that followed, the project turned into a community, and Taz's poetry turned into a collection, Grasping at This Planet Just to Believe. In this interview, Taz talks about the impetus behind and inspiration for the original project and the ways participating in it for a decade changed her relationship to Ramadan — and to writing. tanzila ahmed, authors, poetry, poems, ramadan For ten years, Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed organized an annual poem-a-day project during the month of Ramadan. She began the project as an alternative form of reflection to prayer, which she had struggled to connect with, shortly after the death of her mother. In the decade that followed, the project turned into a community, and Taz's poetry turned into a collection, Grasping at This Planet Just to Believe.

In this interview, Taz talks about the impetus behind and inspiration for the original project and the ways participating in it for a decade changed her relationship to Ramadan — and to writing.

]]> For ten years, Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed organized an annual poem-a-day project during the month of Ramadan. She began the project as an alternative form of reflection to prayer, which she had struggled to connect with, shortly after the death of her mother. In the decade that followed, the project turned into a community, and Taz's poetry turned into a collection, Grasping at This Planet Just to Believe.

In this interview, Taz talks about the impetus behind and inspiration for the original project and the ways participating in it for a decade changed her relationship to Ramadan — and to writing.

]]> Episode 46: Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo - INCANTATION https://story.fireside.fm/46 bb665427-8821-4581-893b-197753092189 Sat, 02 Dec 2023 17:00:00 -0800 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel Host Clara Sherley-Appel talks to Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo about her new poetry collection, INCANTATION: LOVE POEMS FOR BATTLE SITES. 54:11 no This month, host Clara Sherley-Appel talks to poet and educator Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo. A former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, Xochitl’s writing has been featured in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, On Being’s Poetry Unbound, and Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World. She has received residencies from Hedgebrook, Ragdale, Yefe Nof, and the National Parks Arts Foundation in partnership with the Getty National Military Park and Poetry Foundation. In 2011, she co-founded Women Who Submit (https://womenwhosubmitlit.org/), a literary organization that uses social media and community events to empower women and non-binary authors to submit work for publication, with Ashaki Jackson and Alyss Dixon, and she currently serves as the organization’s director. Xochitl wrote her debut collection, Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (https://bookshop.org/p/books/posada-offerings-of-witness-and-refuge-xochitl-julisa-bermejo/10553534), while living in a house in the shadows of Dodger Stadium in historic Solano Canyon. Today we are discussing her second collection, Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites (https://www.mouthfeelbooks.com/product/Incantation-love-poems-for-battle-sites/57), which explores US monuments, memorializes Black and brown bodies murdered by state-sanctioned violence, and shares love poems to family, friends, and dalliances in rituals of resistance and resilience. xochitl-julisa bermejo, authors, poetry, poems, gettysburg This month, host Clara Sherley-Appel talks to poet and educator Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo. A former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, Xochitl’s writing has been featured in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, On Being’s Poetry Unbound, and Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World. She has received residencies from Hedgebrook, Ragdale, Yefe Nof, and the National Parks Arts Foundation in partnership with the Getty National Military Park and Poetry Foundation. In 2011, she co-founded Women Who Submit, a literary organization that uses social media and community events to empower women and non-binary authors to submit work for publication, with Ashaki Jackson and Alyss Dixon, and she currently serves as the organization’s director.

Xochitl wrote her debut collection, Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge, while living in a house in the shadows of Dodger Stadium in historic Solano Canyon. Today we are discussing her second collection, Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites, which explores US monuments, memorializes Black and brown bodies murdered by state-sanctioned violence, and shares love poems to family, friends, and dalliances in rituals of resistance and resilience.

]]> This month, host Clara Sherley-Appel talks to poet and educator Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo. A former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, Xochitl’s writing has been featured in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, On Being’s Poetry Unbound, and Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World. She has received residencies from Hedgebrook, Ragdale, Yefe Nof, and the National Parks Arts Foundation in partnership with the Getty National Military Park and Poetry Foundation. In 2011, she co-founded Women Who Submit, a literary organization that uses social media and community events to empower women and non-binary authors to submit work for publication, with Ashaki Jackson and Alyss Dixon, and she currently serves as the organization’s director.

Xochitl wrote her debut collection, Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge, while living in a house in the shadows of Dodger Stadium in historic Solano Canyon. Today we are discussing her second collection, Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites, which explores US monuments, memorializes Black and brown bodies murdered by state-sanctioned violence, and shares love poems to family, friends, and dalliances in rituals of resistance and resilience.

]]> Episode 45: Sam Sax - PIG https://story.fireside.fm/45 396c3c9f-bd70-4ddd-9832-083cb90f841f Sat, 04 Nov 2023 09:00:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel Host Clara Sherley-Appel talks to poet Sam Sax about their latest poetry collection, PIG. 54:28 no Sam Sax is a queer Jewish poet, writer, and educator. Their debut poetry collection, madness, won the National Poetry Series Competition when it came out, and their second collection, bury it, won the 2017 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. They are the two time Bay Area Grand Slam Champion with poems published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Poetry Magazine, and Granta, to give just a few highlights. Sam has received fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Poetry Foundation, Yaddo, Lambda Literary, and MacDowell, and they are currently serving as an ITALIC Lecturer at Stanford University. In this conversation, Clara talks to Sam about the purpose of filth in their poetry, their use of histories and etymologies as poetic techniques, and how to write a pandemic poem that doesn't feel dated. Special Guest: Sam Sax. sam sax, authors, poetry, local, bay area Sam Sax is a queer Jewish poet, writer, and educator. Their debut poetry collection, madness, won the National Poetry Series Competition when it came out, and their second collection, bury it, won the 2017 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. They are the two time Bay Area Grand Slam Champion with poems published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Poetry Magazine, and Granta, to give just a few highlights. Sam has received fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Poetry Foundation, Yaddo, Lambda Literary, and MacDowell, and they are currently serving as an ITALIC Lecturer at Stanford University.

In this conversation, Clara talks to Sam about the purpose of filth in their poetry, their use of histories and etymologies as poetic techniques, and how to write a pandemic poem that doesn't feel dated.

Special Guest: Sam Sax.

]]> Sam Sax is a queer Jewish poet, writer, and educator. Their debut poetry collection, madness, won the National Poetry Series Competition when it came out, and their second collection, bury it, won the 2017 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. They are the two time Bay Area Grand Slam Champion with poems published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Poetry Magazine, and Granta, to give just a few highlights. Sam has received fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Poetry Foundation, Yaddo, Lambda Literary, and MacDowell, and they are currently serving as an ITALIC Lecturer at Stanford University.

In this conversation, Clara talks to Sam about the purpose of filth in their poetry, their use of histories and etymologies as poetic techniques, and how to write a pandemic poem that doesn't feel dated.

Special Guest: Sam Sax.

]]> Episode 33: Jamey Williams - BREATHING UNDER WATER and TO BE BLACK IS TO LOVE https://story.fireside.fm/33 76aa0f9e-4567-4299-b241-45aedee421f1 Fri, 03 Dec 2021 15:00:00 -0800 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to Bay Area poet and educator Jamey Williams about his poetry collections BREATHING UNDER WATER and TO BE BLACK IS TO LOVE. 55:54 no I talk to Bay Area poet and educator Jamey Williams about his poetry collections BREATHING UNDER WATER and TO BE BLACK IS TO LOVE. jamey williams, authors, local, poetry, interviews I talk to Bay Area poet and educator Jamey Williams about his poetry collections BREATHING UNDER WATER and TO BE BLACK IS TO LOVE.

]]> I talk to Bay Area poet and educator Jamey Williams about his poetry collections BREATHING UNDER WATER and TO BE BLACK IS TO LOVE.

]]> Episode 32: Kenny Garcia - MONTEREY POETRY FESTIVAL https://story.fireside.fm/32 29288930-3ff3-43b8-b227-afde598114a2 Sat, 06 Nov 2021 15:00:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to Monterey Bay Area writer Kenny Garcia about his poetry, the Monterey Poetry Festival, and his involvement with Boukra Press. 55:43 no I talk to Monterey Bay Area writer Kenny Garcia about his poetry, the Monterey Poetry Festival, and his involvement with Boukra Press. kenny garcia, authors, poetry, interviews I talk to Monterey Bay Area writer Kenny Garcia about his poetry, the Monterey Poetry Festival, and his involvement with Boukra Press.

]]> I talk to Monterey Bay Area writer Kenny Garcia about his poetry, the Monterey Poetry Festival, and his involvement with Boukra Press.

]]> Episode 27: Muriel Leung - IMAGINE US, THE SWARM https://story.fireside.fm/27 56977497-b47d-426b-b8e3-103f78800efb Sun, 09 May 2021 11:00:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to Muriel Leung about her new poetry collection, IMAGINE US, THE SWARM. 54:12 no Muriel Leung is a recipient of fellowships to Kundiman, VONA/Voices Workshop and the Community of Writers, and she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her writing can be found in The Baffler, Cream City Review, Gulf Coast, The Collagist, and the Fairy Tale Review, among others. Her first book of poetry, Bone Confetti, won the 2015 Noemi Press Book Award. Of it, one reviewer said, “It made the words into a bell, and the bell made me stop what I was doing.” In this episode, I talk to Muriel about her newest collection, Imagine Us, The Swarm, which comes out on May 25th. Our conversation spans the death of her father, racialized labor, and what these things mean in the context of capitalism. muriel leung, authors, poetry, interviews Muriel Leung is a recipient of fellowships to Kundiman, VONA/Voices Workshop and the Community of Writers, and she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her writing can be found in The Baffler, Cream City Review, Gulf Coast, The Collagist, and the Fairy Tale Review, among others. Her first book of poetry, Bone Confetti, won the 2015 Noemi Press Book Award. Of it, one reviewer said, “It made the words into a bell, and the bell made me stop what I was doing.”

In this episode, I talk to Muriel about her newest collection, Imagine Us, The Swarm, which comes out on May 25th. Our conversation spans the death of her father, racialized labor, and what these things mean in the context of capitalism.

Links:

]]> Muriel Leung is a recipient of fellowships to Kundiman, VONA/Voices Workshop and the Community of Writers, and she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her writing can be found in The Baffler, Cream City Review, Gulf Coast, The Collagist, and the Fairy Tale Review, among others. Her first book of poetry, Bone Confetti, won the 2015 Noemi Press Book Award. Of it, one reviewer said, “It made the words into a bell, and the bell made me stop what I was doing.”

In this episode, I talk to Muriel about her newest collection, Imagine Us, The Swarm, which comes out on May 25th. Our conversation spans the death of her father, racialized labor, and what these things mean in the context of capitalism.

Links:

]]> Episode 16: Jillian Christmas - THE GOSPEL OF BREAKING https://story.fireside.fm/16 fa4e1c3a-e22d-407e-a674-547c6d3c1290 Sat, 06 Jun 2020 20:00:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to Jillian Christmas about her new poetry collection, THE GOSPEL OF BREAKING. 56:15 no Born and raised in Markham, Ontario, Jillian Christmas is a poet, enthusiastic organizer, and activist in the Canadian arts community with a focus on increasing anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post and many other publications, including collections such as Matrix New Queer Writing (Issue 98), The Post Feminist Post, and the celebrated anthology, The Great Black North. In March, Christmas published a collection of her poetry. The Gospel of Breaking explores love, family, queerness, and identity in poetry that is sometimes narrative, sometimes lyrical, and always compelling. In this episode, we talk about Christmas' poetic approach, her relationship to her mother and grandmother, and how she connects her organizing work with her art. <hr> Jillian Christmas is the former Artistic Director of Vancouver's Verses Festival of Words. An educator, organizer, and advocate in the arts community, utilizing an anti-oppressive lens, Jillian has performed and facilitated workshops across North America. She lives in Vancouver. Special Guest: Jillian Christmas. jillian christmas, authors, poetry, interviews Born and raised in Markham, Ontario, Jillian Christmas is a poet, enthusiastic organizer, and activist in the Canadian arts community with a focus on increasing anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post and many other publications, including collections such as Matrix New Queer Writing (Issue 98), The Post Feminist Post, and the celebrated anthology, The Great Black North.

In March, Christmas published a collection of her poetry. The Gospel of Breaking explores love, family, queerness, and identity in poetry that is sometimes narrative, sometimes lyrical, and always compelling. In this episode, we talk about Christmas' poetic approach, her relationship to her mother and grandmother, and how she connects her organizing work with her art.


Jillian Christmas is the former Artistic Director of Vancouver's Verses Festival of Words. An educator, organizer, and advocate in the arts community, utilizing an anti-oppressive lens, Jillian has performed and facilitated workshops across North America. She lives in Vancouver.

Special Guest: Jillian Christmas.

]]> Born and raised in Markham, Ontario, Jillian Christmas is a poet, enthusiastic organizer, and activist in the Canadian arts community with a focus on increasing anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post and many other publications, including collections such as Matrix New Queer Writing (Issue 98), The Post Feminist Post, and the celebrated anthology, The Great Black North.

In March, Christmas published a collection of her poetry. The Gospel of Breaking explores love, family, queerness, and identity in poetry that is sometimes narrative, sometimes lyrical, and always compelling. In this episode, we talk about Christmas' poetic approach, her relationship to her mother and grandmother, and how she connects her organizing work with her art.


Jillian Christmas is the former Artistic Director of Vancouver's Verses Festival of Words. An educator, organizer, and advocate in the arts community, utilizing an anti-oppressive lens, Jillian has performed and facilitated workshops across North America. She lives in Vancouver.

Special Guest: Jillian Christmas.

]]> Episode 11: Daniel Summerhill - DIVINE, DIVINE, DIVINE https://story.fireside.fm/11 2802970d-0296-432b-99a8-9c59366c60e7 Thu, 06 Feb 2020 15:00:00 -0800 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to poet and professor Daniel Summerhill about his new poetry collection, DIVINE, DIVINE, DIVINE. 55:58 no Daniel Summerhill is a poet, a professor of Poetry and Social Action and Composition Studies at CSU Monterey Bay, and an Oakland native. He has performed his poetry on stages around the world, including at the Kwamashu Center in South Africa as part of a workshop sponsored by the US Embassy. He is the 2015 New York Empire State Grand Slam Champion, a 2015 Nitty Gritty Grand Slam Champion, and a recipient of the Sharon Olds Fellowship for Poetry. His poems have been published in the Lilly Review, Califragle, Button, and Blavity, to name just a few, and he edited the collection “Black Joy: An Anthology of Black Boy Poetry,” which came out earlier this year. In this episode, I talk to Summerhill about his poetry collection, Divine, Divine, Divine, which he is editing for publication. Special Guest: Daniel Summerhill. daniel summerhill, authors, poetry, interviews, local Daniel Summerhill is a poet, a professor of Poetry and Social Action and Composition Studies at CSU Monterey Bay, and an Oakland native. He has performed his poetry on stages around the world, including at the Kwamashu Center in South Africa as part of a workshop sponsored by the US Embassy. He is the 2015 New York Empire State Grand Slam Champion, a 2015 Nitty Gritty Grand Slam Champion, and a recipient of the Sharon Olds Fellowship for Poetry. His poems have been published in the Lilly Review, Califragle, Button, and Blavity, to name just a few, and he edited the collection “Black Joy: An Anthology of Black Boy Poetry,” which came out earlier this year.

In this episode, I talk to Summerhill about his poetry collection, Divine, Divine, Divine, which he is editing for publication.

Special Guest: Daniel Summerhill.

]]> Daniel Summerhill is a poet, a professor of Poetry and Social Action and Composition Studies at CSU Monterey Bay, and an Oakland native. He has performed his poetry on stages around the world, including at the Kwamashu Center in South Africa as part of a workshop sponsored by the US Embassy. He is the 2015 New York Empire State Grand Slam Champion, a 2015 Nitty Gritty Grand Slam Champion, and a recipient of the Sharon Olds Fellowship for Poetry. His poems have been published in the Lilly Review, Califragle, Button, and Blavity, to name just a few, and he edited the collection “Black Joy: An Anthology of Black Boy Poetry,” which came out earlier this year.

In this episode, I talk to Summerhill about his poetry collection, Divine, Divine, Divine, which he is editing for publication.

Special Guest: Daniel Summerhill.

]]> Episode 7: Lauren Eggert-Crowe - BITCHES OF THE DROUGHT https://story.fireside.fm/7 535d55de-4176-43f6-a659-5c4c7ebe970e Sat, 07 Sep 2019 13:00:00 -0700 Clara Sherley-Appel full Clara Sherley-Appel I talk to poet Lauren Eggert-Crowe about her 2017 chapbook, BITCHES OF THE DROUGHT, delayed anger, and the impact of the natural world on her poetry. 59:54 no In her 2017 chapbook, Bitches of the Drought, poet and former Santa Cruz resident Lauren Eggert-Crowe explores what it's like when a woman's anger comes to the surface years after the object of her anger has left her life. Lauren's writing process in many ways mirrors those themes: while she wrote many of the poems in Bitches of the Drought over a single summer, it wasn't until years later that she thought to combine them into a single book. In our conversation, we touch on the emotional impact of poetry, why so many people move away from poetry as they get older, and how we can learn to love poetry again as adults. Special Guest: Lauren Eggert-Crowe. lauren eggert-crowe, authors, poetry, interviews, women writers In her 2017 chapbook, Bitches of the Drought, poet and former Santa Cruz resident Lauren Eggert-Crowe explores what it's like when a woman's anger comes to the surface years after the object of her anger has left her life. Lauren's writing process in many ways mirrors those themes: while she wrote many of the poems in Bitches of the Drought over a single summer, it wasn't until years later that she thought to combine them into a single book.

In our conversation, we touch on the emotional impact of poetry, why so many people move away from poetry as they get older, and how we can learn to love poetry again as adults.

Special Guest: Lauren Eggert-Crowe.

Links:

]]> In her 2017 chapbook, Bitches of the Drought, poet and former Santa Cruz resident Lauren Eggert-Crowe explores what it's like when a woman's anger comes to the surface years after the object of her anger has left her life. Lauren's writing process in many ways mirrors those themes: while she wrote many of the poems in Bitches of the Drought over a single summer, it wasn't until years later that she thought to combine them into a single book.

In our conversation, we touch on the emotional impact of poetry, why so many people move away from poetry as they get older, and how we can learn to love poetry again as adults.

Special Guest: Lauren Eggert-Crowe.

Links:

]]>