The Hive Poetry Collective

Recorded in June 2025, during the 6th month of the Trump administration, while American bombs rained down on Iran, Addie and Dion read war poems. They read "We Lived Happily During the War," by  Ilya Kaminsky ," Convergence," by Joseph Stroud, "The People of the Other Village," by Thomas Lux, "Anywhere you Look," Jane Hirshfield , Samuel Hazo 's "In...

Francisco Aragón, Director of Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, talks about his most recent book, After Rubén, and the queering of iconic Nicaraguan poet, Ruben Darío. Hear Francisco’s exquisite voice bring his own and Darío’s words alive as we talk about the Neorealism movement, Federico Lorca, and giving new breadth and depth...

Dorianne Laux reads her poem "Fear" as well as poems from her new craft book Finger Exercises for Poets . Dorianne Laux’ s sixth collection,  Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems  was named a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Her fifth collection, The Book of Men , was awarded The Paterson Prize. Her fourth book of poems,  Facts About the Moon ,  won The Oregon Book Award...

In this episode of  The Hive Poetry Collective , host Julie Murphy talks with Santa Cruz poet   Cynthia White  about her award-winning chapbook  Glossogenesis . The show begins with Cynthia's reading of Susan Firer's poem, Transubstantiation . They explore how language shapes experience, how poetry holds memory and transformation, and what it means to write with clarity and care. A rich co...

Julie Murphy , Addie Mahmassani , and Dion O'Reilly read poems from En•Trance Journal , a journal dedicated to altered states and the lyric moment. We read and discuss poems by Ellen Bass, Dorianne Laux, Julie Murphy, Deborah Gorlin, Emily Ransdell, Jessica Cuello, and Jim Moore. There are fifteen fabulous poets in the the first issue of Entrancejournel.net . We wish we could have discussed th...

Nin and Dion read from her new book Son of a Bird, now available from Etruscan Press. They also read and discuss "Unrest," by Emily Fragos . Nin Andrews is the author of the s ix chapbooks and ten full- length poetry collections including The Last Orgasm (2020), Miss August (2017), and Why God is a Woman (2015). She is the recipient of two Ohio individual artists grants, the Pearl Chapbo...

Dion and Denise chat about her new book, Pink Lady. We read and discuss " His Terror" by Sharon Olds and also reference Olds's poem " Satan Says." Denise Duhamel has published numerous collections of poetry , including  Second Story  (2021),  Scald  (2017),  Blowout  (2013), which was a finalist for a National Books Critics Circle Award,  Ka-Ching!  (2009),  Queen for a Day...

Kirk Glaser's book, The House That Fire Built, has been 25 years in the making following a suspicious house fire and the characters both prior to and following the incident. Join us as we talk of ghosts, poet James Murray, and the many ways fire exists as metaphor. You can find the House That Fire Built at Mad Hat Press .

Adela Najarro 's fifth poetry collection,  Variations in Blue , was selected by the Letras Latinas/ Red Hen Collaborative for publication in March, 2025. The California Arts Council recognized her as an established artist for the Central California Region, appointing her as an Individual Artist Fellow. Her extended family left Nicaragua and arrived in San Francisco during the 1940s; after the fall...

Rubén and Dion kick off the show by reading " Eating Together," by Li-Young Lee . Then they read from Rubén Quesada's new book, Brutal Campanion. Ruben Quesada, Ph. D is an award-winning poet and editor. He edited the groundbreaking anthology Latinx Poetics: Essays on the Art of Poetry , winner of the Gold Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. His poetry and criticism app...

Join Julie Murphy and Chicago poet, Christy Prahl , as they read and discuss Kwame Dawes ' poem Sea and Rain from his book Nebraska . Then they dive into Christy's We Are Reckless (Cornerstone Press), a gorgeous collection of midwest poems that take a daring look into relationships, identity, pleasure, loss, and more. Sprinkled though the conversation is bits of craft, stories and laughter. The sh...

Roxi Power chats with Dion O'Reilly about a new anthology, Winter in America (Again: Poets Respond to 2024 Election that Power co-edited. With their usual mix of irreverence and in-depth close readings, they showcase the wide range styles in this collection of 100+ poets published by Carbonation Press. This urgent book was assembled by 8 editors between election and inauguration day and captur...

Cassandra, Hildegard of Bingen, Virginia Woolf, Ann Sexton...the link between visionary minds and what classifies as 'mental illness' is key to opening doors of perception. Join Karen Marker as she talks with Julia Chiapella about her new book, Under the Blue Umbrella, and a family history of schizophrenia as both stigma and chimera. Beneath the Blue Umbrella can be found here .

Please join Julie Murphy as she chats with Santa Cruz County's new Poet Laureate, Nancy Miller Gomez , about poetry in the jails and her plans to bring poetry to our community. Nancy reads Ruth Stone's poem, Another Feeling , and talks about the importance of paying attention and how daily observations, memories and current events can ease the challenge of facing a blank page. Listen to Na...

Hear from four UCSC student poets who will be part of this year's In Celebration of the Muse at the Resource Center for Nonviolence. Farnaz Fatemi and Julia Chiapella talk to these up and coming poets, who read from their poems and talk about their inspirations, influences and passion. Poets in the studio: Lilly Tookey, Reilly Newton, and Angel Sunlight. Sofia Nordvedt represented. More about In C...

Santa Cruz poet, journalist, and author, Addie Mahmassani, buzzes into the Hive to talk Irish poetry with Dion O'Reilly. We read William Butler Yeats , Seamus Heaney, S amuel Beckett and Eamon-Grennan Addie Mahmassani is originally from the East Coast, where she completed a PhD in American Studies. This spring she is finishing an MFA in poetry at SJSU. She covers Arts & Entertainment for ...

Dustin Brookshire has gathered an impressive array of poetic emulations in When I Was Straight: A Tribute to Maureen Seaton . They include free verse gestures, couplets, tercets, and prose poems. Maureen’s influence shines, though is never blinding—each of the poets in this anthology takes her title and makes the poem that follows their own. (From the forward by Denise Duhamel ) We read poems from...

Julie Murphy and  Jessica Cohn discuss Jessica's debut book of poems Gratitude Diary , exploring themes of nature, family, loss, and yes, gratitude. Cohn reads Jane Hirshfield's poem My Debt and the poets discuss amazement and appreciation of beauty and nature, but also gratitude for the more challenging and difficult aspects of life. A Michigan native, Jessica Cohn has made homes in Illinois, New...

Tune in as treasured poet Naomi Shihab Nye reads her poetry, talks of her Palestinian father and ancestors, and recalls the challenging event that led to her popular poem, "Kindness". She also shares a poem by Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Tofa from his book Forest of Noise . Listen to Naomi read poems from her books The Tiny Journalist , Fuel , Transfer , and Everything Comes Next .

With Julia Chiapella and Dion O’Reilly, Roxi Power discusses the just-published anthology she co-edited, Winter in America (Again: Poets Respond to 2024 Election (Carbonation Press 2025) with 100+ amazing poets. This urgent, lightning-fast book was a collaborative effort by 8 editors between election and inauguration day to capture feelings about and implications of this critical election. The cal...

Farnaz and Sarah Pape discuss the poet's new book, Forgive the Animal , (Cornerstone Press), exploring questions of memory, vulnerability and revelation in her poems, along with the complexity of personal fallibility. Pape thinks and talks eloquently about the process of putting together the manuscript regarding a range of craft issues including point of view, form, and genre-crossing. Sarah P...

Julie Murphy and Dane Cervine discuss DEEP TRAVEL – At Home in the [Burning] World (Saddle Road Press), Danes new book of contemporary haibun . The poems are rooted in a series of journeys, a pilgrimage, that culminates in the poet finding home in this fragile, yet resilient, world.

Miller Oberman and Dion O'Reilly read and discuss Omotara James's "My mother's nerves are shot."  and then do a deep dive into Oberman's newest collection, Impossible Things ⁠ . Miller Oberman is the author of  Impossible Things ,  forthcoming from Duke University Press, 2024 and  The Unstill Ones ,  Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, 2017. He has received a number of awards for his poetry, i...

Tim Seibles reads and discusses Lucille Clifton's poem "Hag Riding. " Then he reads from his newest collection Voodoo Libretto: New & Selected Poems . Tim Seibles was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2016 to 2018. He is a former National Endowment for the Arts fellow and Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center fellow. His seven books of poetry include  Fast Animal,  which was a finalist for the 2...

  SPREZZATURA, Christopher Buckley's 30th book, is due from Lynx House Press, January 2025. The sense of place in these poems-- whether its the foggy cliffs above the sea or the street of Fresno-- is vivid and immediate.  Buckley examines friendship and the inevitability of change as he braids grief, love, and hope in these poems, many of which are dedicated to the great Fresno poets including Phi...