The Host Dispatch: A Literary Podcast

In this episode, we chat with C. Rees about their haunting debut collection, NOCTUARY. Beginning with a tarot pull, we entered this episode with an eye toward the divinatory poetics woven through C.'s work, discussing the mercurial ways that our beloved dead can emerge when we are, as C. models so beautifully in this book, keeping the channel open for those encounters.   

C. Rees (they/them) is a nonbinary poet, educator, and bookseller. They were raised in Pennsylvania (Lënapehòkink) and currently live on Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Jumanos, Lipan Apache, Sana, and Tonkawa land, what is now Austin, Texas. C. holds an MFA in Poetry from the New Writers Project. They are ideologically and materially committed to a free Palestine. NOCTUARY is their first book. 

In this episode, we had the immense honor to chat with Chiagoziem Jideofor, author of local remedies, 

In this episode, we dive deep into the creative practices and philosophies of the brilliant gamer, poet, professor, scholar, and the most charismatic introvert we know, dezireé a. brown! 

Dez's debut poetry collection, they/she/he: ritual to forget your (un)becoming, won the 2025 Joe W. Bratcher Prize, for its immense tenderness, singular experimentation, and refusal to conform to what we think we know about poetry.

Influenced by video game worlds, choose-your-own adventures, and a multifaceted collective of Mesopotamian goddesses, speaking with Dez about this collection led to the most engaging conversation about gender, transformation, and healing, as well as video games and the space they can create for us to imagine ourselves into a better future. 

We know you'll love this conversation with this inimitable poet. As always, thanks for listening! 

What a maximalist joy it was to speak with Summer Farah, Palestinian American editor, zine-maker and author of THE HUNGERING YEARS! In this conversation, we geek out about our poetic obsessions, and pick Summer's brain about her relationship to digital collage, Etel Adnan, and Supernatural, just to name a few. Listen to this wild conversation for a boost of creative energy, and enjoy the sneak preview into Summer Farah's magnetic collection, THE HUNGERING YEARS, available at hostpublications.com 

Please join us in making a donation to The Sameer Project  by supporting one of their campaigns or purchasing books (including Summer's chapbook I Could Die Today and Live Again) through Open Books' Workshops for Gaza Bookstore

After a long hiatus (while we converted to nonprofit and published 4 new books!) we're back with Season 6 of The Host Dispatch!

This is a monster of a book, an ecology of being in which all bodies are poems and all poems are bodies. rhodes asks the reader: How does the poem of us begin? Then, proceeds to dismantle the notion of beginning and ending. In Wayward Creatures, time is a branch from which we fruit, die, and bud again. It is the dark unknowable depth of space. It is the constellatory nature of queer love. Tucked into these pages is the book of crip dreams, which is a kind of scripture, and is also the book you are touching now—with your hot and human hands. — Gala Mukomolova, author of Without Protection

In this episode, it was a thrill to speak with Katherine Packert Burke about her captivating debut novel, Still Life (Norton, 2024).

"Katherine Packert Burke’s Still Life is everything you want from a Künstlerroman: smart, sexy, funny, sly, and exceptionally queer. With biting insights and heartbreaking attention, this debut captures the daunting thrill of becoming an artist while becoming yourself." — Isle McElroy, author of People Collide

This was such a fun, tender and insightful conversation with an exceptionally talented writer. We are honored to share this episode with you! Here are some titles Katherine recommends that are in conversation with or inspired the writing of Still Life:

We're thrilled to announce that we are currently open for submissions!

In this episode, we discuss what's new about this year's open reading period, our tips and tricks for submitting your work, and what our vision for Host's 2025 publishing program holds!

We're looking for poetry and fiction (short stories or novellas) full-length manuscripts submissions between September 13th, 2024 through October 15th, 2024. Please review the finer details of our general guidelines on our submissions page.

• Submissions are open to any US-based poet or fiction writer. Though we love and have historically published works in translation, all submissions for this period must be original work written in English.

We can't wait to read your poetry and short fiction manuscripts! As always, thanks for listening <3

In this episode, we discuss the works by women in translation that have been blowing our socks off this month. We talk about literary celebrities in the small press world, how their books have opened our minds, and taught us something new about literature.

Tentacle by Rita Indiana

Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon 

In this episode, we had the immense honor to chat with mónica teresa ortiz, author of book of provocations, the inaugural winner of the Joe W. Bratcher Prize for Poetry. mónica teresa ortiz (they / them) is a poet, memory worker, and critic born, raised, and based in Texas.

With the Joe W. Bratcher Prize, Host Publications aims to amplify the kind of work that Joe was most passionate about—poetry that pushes the boundaries of form, art and culture, poetry that is urgent in its subject matter, poetry with a heart that beats for change.

In this conversation, we talk about the origins of mónica's radical poetry, and how their work has evolved since we published their chapbook autobiography of a semiromantic anarchist in 2019. Some of the recommended works mónica cites in this episode are:

1. Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galleano

In this episode, we discuss the importance not only of amplifying queer rights, but the ways in which queer activism can work to advocate for the liberation of all, with Pride month events this year donating proceeds to efforts for Palestinian liberation and relief funds. One such event in Austin this year is Sunbird Fest, an arts and education festival organized by Austin community members in solidarity with Palestine happening June 20-23, all proceeds will go toward humanitarian relief in Gaza. More information including the complete list of fundraisers, how they are vetted, and how Sunbird Festival is handling proceeds here.