Bread & Poetry

On this episode, we break bread with host and poet laureate of your hearts Diannely Antigua and talk about death-bed breads, the end of her laureateship term, and what's next for the podcast and her poetry. Johnathan Riley, former guest from Episode 1, conducts the interview. 

Guest: Diannely Antigua, IG: @nellfell13,  Twitter:  @nellfell13,  Website: www.diannelyantigua.com,  Books: Good Monster,  Ugly Music

Diannely Antigua is a Dominican American poet and educator, born and raised in Massachusetts. She is the author of two poetry collections, Ugly Music (YesYes Books, 2019), which was the winner of the Pamet River Prize and a 2020 Whiting Award, and Good Monster (Copper Canyon Press, 2024). She received her BA in English from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she won the Jack Kerouac Creative Writing Scholarship, and received her MFA at NYU, where she was awarded a Global Research Initiative Fellowship to Florence, Italy. She is the recipient of additional fellowships from CantoMundo, Community of Writers, Fine Arts Work Center Summer Program, and was a finalist for the 2021 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and chosen for The Best of the Net Anthology. Her poems can be found in Poem-a-Day, Poetry, The American Poetry Review, Washington Square Review, The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. In 2022, she was proclaimed the 13th Poet Laureate of Portsmouth, NH, the youngest and first person of color to receive the title. In 2023, she was awarded an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship to launch The Bread & Poetry Project, and in 2024, she was awarded an Excellence in Artistry Award from Black Lives Matter New Hampshire. She currently teaches in the MFA Writing Program at the University of New Hampshire as the inaugural Nossrat Yassini Poet in Residence. She hosts the podcast Bread & Poetry which seeks to make poetry accessible to all in a way that nourishes the soul.

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

On this episode, we break bread with poet, professor, and disgruntled Lakers fan John Murillo and talk about no-knead bread, lob passes, and Yusef Komunyakaa. 

Guest: John Murillo, Website: www.johnmurillo.com,  Book: Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry 

Bio: John Murillo is the author of the poetry collections, Up Jump the Boogie and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry.  His honors include the 2021 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the Four Quartets Prize from the Academy of American Poets and the TS Eliot Foundation, the Lucille Clifton Legacy Award from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, two Pushcart Prizes, the J Howard and Barbara MJ Wood Prize from the Poetry Foundation, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Cave Canem Foundation, and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and inclusion in Best American Poetry 2017, 2019, and 2020.  He is an associate professor of English at Wesleyan University.

Poem(s) discussed: "Slam, Dunk, & Hook" by Yusef Komunyakaa and "Practicing Fade-Aways" by John Murillo

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

On this episode, we break bread with poet, educator, and foodie Carly Joy Miller and talk about cinnamon swirl bread, allusions, and Sandra Lim. 

Guest: Carly Joy Miller, IG: @thecarlyjoy,  Twitter: @carlyjoymiller,  Website:https://www.carlyjoymiller.com/ ,  Substack: https://carlyjoymiller.substack.com/,  Book: Ceremonial by Carly Joy Miller, Like a Beast by Carly Joy Miller

Bio: Carly Joy Miller is the author of Ceremonial (Orison Books, 2018), selected by Carl Phillips as the winner of the 2017 Orison Poetry Prize, and the chapbook Like a Beast (Anhinga Press, 2017), winner of the 2016 Rick Campbell Chapbook Prize. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Academy of American Poets’ Poem a Day, The Laurel Review, Poetry Northwest, Waxwing, and elsewhere. A digital content writer and editor, Carly also teaches in The Writer’s Foundry at St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn. 

Poem(s) discussed: "Spinoza Says" by Sandra Lim & "Adoration Fable" by Carly Joy Miller

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

This Special Episode is a live recording of the event Love & Resistance: Poetry & Conversation, Latinx Voices that took place on el Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead), November 2, 2023. The event was in collaboration with NH PANTHER whose mission is to help end racism and systemic biases through community engagement, direct mutual aid, education and curriculum reform, and youth empowerment programming. I sat down with Ben Bacote, Co-Founder and Director of NH PANTHER. We talked about poetry and how it resonated both historically and personally to the Latinx experience. Throughout the conversation we reference a slideshow that’s available here. Although not included in the episode, local artist and host Victoria Carrington opened up the event with an informative and personal account of Día de los Muertos. We were co-sponsored by local Mexican restaurant Vida Cantina who provided both the venue and delicious food for the evening. DJ MAM was spinning tunes all night. This was truly a community event. We hope you enjoy! 

Guest: Ben Bacote & NH PANTHER, IG: @nhpanthers,  Website: https://nhpanther.org

Victoria Carrington: @lilacandaspen

DJ MAM: @djmam19

Vida Cantina: @vidacantinanh

Event playlist on Spotify

Poem(s) discussed: "Who Understands Me but Me" by Jimmy Santiago Baca, "The Contract Says: We'd Like the Conversation to be Bilingual" by Ada Límon, "The Latin Deli: an Ars Poetica" by Judith Ortiz Cofer,  and "Like You" by Roque Dalton

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

On this episode, we break bread with poet Fariha Róisín and talk about manna, seeking truth, and Refaat Alareer.

Guest: Fariha Róisín, IG: @fariha_roisin,  Website: www.fariharoisin.com, Substack: fariharoisin.substack.com,  Book: Survival Takes a Wild Imagination

Bio: Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Ontario, Canada. She was raised in Sydney, Australia, and is based in Los Angeles, California. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Her work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, and queer identities. Róisín has published works, How To Cure A Ghost, Like A Bird, Who Is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who it Leaves Behind. Her second book of poetry, Survival Takes A Wild Imagination came out in October, 2023. 

Poem(s) discussed: "'I am You': A Poem from Gaza to Israel" by Refaat Alareer & "An Ode to Baby Fa" by Fariha Róisín

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

On this episode, we break bread with poet, father, and chef extraordinaire Nathan McClain and talk about english muffins, memory, and John Murillo. 

Guest: Nathan McClain, IG: @nathanhmcclain, Twitter: @nathanhmcclain, Website: nathanmcclain.com, Book: Previously Owned

Bio: Nathan McClain (he/him) is the author of Previously Owned (2022), longlisted for the 2023 Massachusetts Book Award, and Scale (2017), both from Four Way Books. A Cave Canem fellow, Nathan teaches at Hampshire College and serves as poetry editor of the Massachusetts Review. 

Poem(s) discussed: "Mercy, Mercy Me" by John Murillo & "Multiple Choice" by Nathan McClain

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

On this episode, we break bread with poet Olatunde Osinaike and talk about puff puff, doo-wop, and Amaud Jamal Johnson. 

Guest: Olatunde Osinaike, IG: @tundelasoul, Twitter: @tundelasoul, Website: olatundeosinaike.com, Book: Tender Headed

Bio: Originally from the West Side of Chicago, Olatunde Osinaike (he/him) is a Nigerian-American poet, essayist, and software developer. He is the author of Tender Headed, winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series, and forthcoming this December from Akashic Books. His work has received fellowships and support from Poets & Writers, Hurston/Wright Foundation, Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, and the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice at Rutgers University. He lives in Atlanta with his dearest and would like to thank you. 

Poem(s) discussed: "Doo-Wop" by Amaud Jamal Johnson & "Sometimes I Forget to Say Grace" by Olatunde Osinaike

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

On this episode, we break bread with poet Sarah Audsley and talk about chapati, dictionary poems, and Tiana Nobile. 

Guest: Sarah Audsley, IG: @saudsley, Twitter: @saudsleypoet,  Website: https://sarahaudsley.com/,  Book: Landlock X

Bio: Sarah Audsley is the author of Landlock X (Texas Review Press, 2023). A Korean American adoptee, a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, and a member of The Starlings Collective, Audsley lives and works in northern Vermont.

Poem(s) discussed: "/ˈmīɡrənt/" by Tiana Nobile and "When My Mother Returns as X" by Sarah Audsley

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

On this episode, we break bread with Tariq Luthun, award-winning poet and community organizer. We talk about a "community of breads," freedom, and Safia Elhillo.  (Make sure to listen to the blooper at the end!)

Guest: Tariq Luthun, IG: @tariqpoems,  Twitter: @tariqpoems,  Website: tariqpoetry.com,  Book: How the Water Holds Me

Bio: 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 was named a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg fellow by the Poetry Foundation, and is a Kresge Arts in Detroit fellow. Luthun earned his MFA from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, and currently serves as a board member of The Offing Literary Magazine. His first collection of poetry, How the Water Holds Me, was named Editors’ Selection by Bull City Press and is available now. 

Poem(s) discussed: "Vocabulary" by Safia Elhillo & "I Felt Nothing" by Tariq Luthun

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. 

Bonus Slice is a little offering, an appetizer if you will, of delectable bonus content related to previous episodes, ranging from poems read by former guests, after the interview follow-ups, outtakes, and more. On this Bonus Slice, Maya Williams from Episode #9: Oat Bread & Jonah Poems reads "Samson & Suicide" from their debut poetry collection Judas & Suicide. Bon a petit! 

Guest: Maya Williams, IG: @emmdubb16, Twitter: @emmdubb16, Website: www.mayawilliamspoet.com

Bio: Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who is currently the seventh poet laureate of Portland, Maine. Ey has published poems in venues such as The Portland Press Herald, The Cortland Review, FreezeRay, Indianapolis Review, glitterMOB, and more. Their first poetry collection Judas & Suicide will be released via Game Over Books May 30th 2023; their second poetry collection Refused a Second Date will be released via Harbor Editions October 5th, 2023. Maya was one of three artists of color selected to represent Maine in The Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America series in 2020, and was listed as one of The Advocate’s Champions of Pride in 2022. Follow more of her work, and invite her to read or facilitate a workshop, at mayawilliamspoet.com.

Poem: "Samson & Suicide" by Maya Williams

Podcast Website: https://bread-poetry.simplecast.com

Instagram: @breadandpoetrypodcast

Twitter: @breadpoetrypod

Production: Kula Production Company

Photo Credit: Najee Brown @authoredby

Theme Music: Stu Dias @stuartdiasplaysmusicsometimes

To find an archive of the Gluten Free Segment: Writing Prompts, click here. 

For more information about Diannely Antigua, website: www.diannelyantigua.com and IG: @nellfell13. 

This podcast is sponsored in part by the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program. Please consider donating to this volunteer-run, non-profit organization by visiting www.pplpnh.org/donate. 

This podcast is also sponsored in part by The Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation.