In this episode of The Hive Poetry Collective, host Julie Murphy talks with Leigh Sugar about her debut poetry collection FREELAND. Leigh’s poetry weaves memory, intimacy, and incarceration into lyric that’s as unflinching as it is tender.We chat about language, erasure, love under surveillance, and the ethics of naming. We’ll also discuss the poem Claiming Language by Shane McCrae, a poet who continues to shape how many of us understand rupture and reclamation in American poetry.

Leigh Sugar (she/her) is a poet, editor, teacher, movement artist, and, most importantly, learner. Her debut collection, FREELAND (Alice James Books, 2025), was a finalist for both the Alice James Award and the Jake Adam York Prize, and she created and edited the anthology That’s a Pretty Thing to Call It: Prose and Poetry by Artists Teaching in Carceral Settings. (New Village Press, 2023). She has taught writing in various settings, including New York University, Hugo House, The Institute for Justice and Opportunity, and Michigan state prisons.  A disabled artist, Leigh lives with her pup in Michigan. Say hi on Instagram @lekasugar, or via her website at www.leighksugar.com.