Words and Shit

Tariq Luthun is a Detroit-born, Dearborn-raised community organizer, data consultant, and Emmy Award-winning poet. The son of Palestinian Muslim immigrants from Gaza, he is a Kresge Arts in Detroit fellow that earned his MFA in Poetry from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Luthun’s work has earned him such honors as being named Best of the Net, in addition to fellowships through Ku...

AYOKUNLE FALOMO is Nigerian, American, and the author of Autobiomythography of (Alice James Books, 2024), AFRICANAMERICAN’T (FlowerSong Press, 2022), two self-published col-lections and African, American (New Delta Review, 2019; selected by Selah Saterstrom as the winner of New Delta Review’s 8th annual chapbook contest). A recipient of fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, MacDowell, and the Un...

A writer from Ohio, they are Social Media Manager for The Kenyon Review and Poetry Editor at Tinderbox Poetry Journal. Their work has been featured in Button Poetry, Indiana Review, The Journal , The Margins, The Recluse, and elsewhere. They’ve received numerous awards, most recently, second place winner of Frontier Poetry’s 2023 Hurt and Healing Prize, a 2022 Academy of American Poets Prize and B...

tanea lunsford lynx (pronouns flexible) is a writer, abolitionist, and fourth generation Black San Franciscan on both sides. tanea is a proud alum of Voices of Our Nation (VONA) and the Lambda Literary Retreat. In 2023 tanea grew her showings of multidisciplinary work to include her first solo exhibition ( we were here) at the San Francisco Main Library and an interactive exhibit ( I Used to Live...

Leigh Lucas is a writer in San Francisco. Her chapbook Landsickness (Tupelo Press, 2024) was selected by Chen Chen for the 2023 Sunken Garden Poetry Chapbook Award. She has been awarded residencies at Tin House, Community of Writers, and Kenyon, and has been recognized with AWP’s Kurt Brown Prize, as well as with a Best New Poet nomination, Best of Net nomination, and multiple Pushcart Prize nomin...

Derrick C. Brown is a renowned poet, comedian and former Paratrooper. His album, 'A Close Shave with Heaven' earned him Paste Magazine's '2023 Album of the Year.' Winner of the Texas Book of The Year award for Poetry, owner and president of the esteemed Write Bloody Publishing, hailed by Forbes and Filter Magazine as one of the nation's premier independent poetry presses, h...

Lexi Pelle is the winner of the 2022 Jack McCarthy Book Prize, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and a finalist for the Prufer Poetry Prize, Crosswinds Poetry Prize and the Marvin Bell Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in Rattle, Ninth Letter, SWWIM, Sucarnochee Review, and The Shore. Her debut poetry collection, Let Go With The Lights On, is out now.

Born and raised in Chicago, storyteller Steven Antoine Willis uses his poetic and theatrical background to embark on the daunting task of creatively articulating African American culture. With art heavily influenced by urban life and religion, Steven mixes elements of hip hop poetics and theatrical performance with formal teachings of anthropology, and political theory to help express his eclectic...

Haydil Henriquez is an arts educator, cultural advocate, program manager and Bronx-bred poet. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology & Education from Swarthmore College in 2014, and has worked with communities across the Diaspora facilitating oral storytelling workshops for youth. Although Haydil does not possess a formal degree in writing, she witnessed the magic of poetry during her for...

Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta (she/they) is a full professor at the City University of New York (CUNY)-BCC. Their poetry collection,  Things to Pack on the Way to Everywhere , was a 2020 finalist for the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize (Get Fresh Books, 2021). She is the editor of  Latina Outsiders Remaking Latina Identity  (Routledge, 2019), Creative Writing Editor at  Chicana/Latina Studies Journal , and a n...

Diamond Braxton (she/they) is a queer, mixed-race Black-Xicanx writer, editor, and educator based in Texas. Their work appears in Best Microfiction 2023, Sundress Publications Best of the Net anthology, The Forge, Stanchion, Hellebore Press, ANMLY, and others. She is a Lambda Literary retreat fellow (2023) and a Tin House 21′ workshop alum. She is the Founder of a new intersectional, anti-racist p...

Andre Bradford, a.k.a. S.C. Says, is an Austin based slam poet who has been performing slam poetry since 2013. He's toured and featured at venues and universities across the country, and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Write About Now, The Edge radio, The Culture Trip, and Blavity. He is a two time Austin Poetry Slam Champion, the 2022 Texas Grand Slam Champion, and is the a...

Lacey Roop is a queer, non-binary poet & performer. They perform their work nationwide at bookstores, festivals, and college campuses. They have previously ranked 6th in the world at the Women of the World Poetry Slam, a former Austin Poetry Slam Champion, and have been featured on PBS’s, Roadtrip Nation, which reaches over 60 million households worldwide. Their work is a powerful exploration...

Ayanna Florence is a poet, creative, and teaching artist originally from Chesapeake, VA and currently residing in Charlotte, NC. She is a Brave New Voices alum, a Southern Fried Poetry Slam finalist, and has been performing spoken word across the country since 16 years old. Ayanna is the 2023 Slam Charlotte Grand Slam champion, the current North Carolina Regional Slam champion, a 2023 Queen of the...

jason b. crawford (They/He/She) is a writer born in Washington DC, raised in Lansing, MI. Their debut Full-Length Year of the Unicorn Kidz is out from Sundress Publications. crawford holds a Bachelor of Science in Creative Writing from Eastern Michigan University. They are a 2023 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ Voices fellow. They are the winner of the Courtney Valentine Prize for Outstanding Work...

C.L. “Rooster” Martinez is an educator, writer, and spoken word poet from San Antonio, Texas. He is the author of A Saint for Lost Things and As it is in Heaven. His work has appeared in such publications as Huizache, Voices de la Luna, Write About Now Poetry, Button Poetry, Huffington Post Latino Voices, Acentos Review, and others. He was co-editor on Contra: Texas Poets Speak Out, a poetry antho...

Jane Wong   is the author of the debut memoir  Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City  (Tin House, 2023). She also wrote two poetry collections:  How to Not Be Afraid of Everything  (Alice James, 2021) and  Overpour  (Action Books, 2016). A Kundiman fellow, she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Harvard's Woodberry Poetry Room, Artis...

Carlos Andrés Gómez  is a Colombian American poet, author, and performer from New York City. A star of HBO’s  Def Poetry Jam  and the Spike Lee movie  Inside Man  with Denzel Washington, Carlos is the International Book Award-winning author of several books, including the poetry collection  Fractures  and the memoir  Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood .

Ally Ang is a gaysian poet & editor from Seattle. A Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets nominee, their work has appeared in  The Rumpus ,  Muzzle Magazine ,  ANMLY , and elsewhere. Ally is a 2023 National Endowment for the Arts fellow and MacDowell fellow. Their debut poetry collection,  Let the Moon Wobble,  is forthcoming from Alice James Books in 2025. Find them at  allysonang.com  or on Twit...

The Words & Shit podcast is back for season 4, and we're kicking it off with none other than the award winning KB Brookins! KB Brookins is a Black queer and trans writer, cultural worker, and artist from Texas. KB’s chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize, a Writer’s League of Texas Discovery Prize, and a Stonewall Honor Book Award. Their debut poetry co...

We've arrived at the end of Season 3 of Words and Shit! And to close it all out we're bringing on our hosts to interview each other, reminisce about their favorite moments of the season, share some of their work, and GIVE AWAY SOME PRIZES! We have books from our featured authors, t-shirts, and more. Get to know your hosts, catch some of the most memorable moments of season 3, and win some great go...

We're welcoming award winning author Kemi Alabi into the Words and Shit studio to talk about their upcoming book, past successes, the importance of the work they're doing in the black and brown queer and trans spaces, and so much more! Tune in live to get to know the person behind the poetry! Kemi Alabi is the author of AGAINST HEAVEN (Graywolf Press, 2022), selected by Claudia Rankine as winner o...

Back together in the virtual studio, Chibbi and Raqui welcome Patrick Roche for a great conversation about mental health, pop culture, the Dalai Lama, and so much more!  Patrick Roche is an award-winning poet, performer, mental health advocate, and Carly Rae Jepsen enthusiast from New Jersey. He has placed at numerous national and regional poetry slams, and serves nationally as an ambassador...

Words and Shit will be recorded in front of a LIVE AUDIENCE at the Stonewall International Poetry Slam (SIPS) Festival in Baltimore, Maryland, and we brought back a friend of the show for this very special occasion: Sha'Condria "iCon" Sices-Sibley joined us to talk about her new book, the journey to publication, and the life after. SHA'CONDRIA “iCon” SIBLEY is an Alexandria, Louisiana native and l...

Baltimore poet Kenneth Something drops into the Words and Shit studio and we discuss organizing, artivism, the upcoming Stonewall International Poetry Slam Festival, and so much more! Tune in live to get to know the person behind the poetry! Kenneth Something is a poet, playwright. educator and organizer. However, he is best described as an artivist. Kenneth has been working/creating at the inters...