Author: hibatahir

Poet & Software Developer Olatunde Osinaike, my final Season 4 guest!

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I met poet & software developer Olatunde Osinaike back in 2019 during Open Mouth Literary Center’s Third Annual Poetry Festival, and I’ve long admired his work!

I had so much fun speaking to him ahead of the release of his debut full-length collection, Tender Headed— a beautifully and deliberately crafted collection that I deeply enjoyed reading last month and that I’m already so excited to revisit! Camille Rankine, who selected it as a winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series, called it “a two-step on a tightwire,” and I agree. I’m ecstatic to feature Olatunde as my last guest this year on Tightwires, and I learned so much from our conversation!

Tender Headed comes out next Tuesday, December 5 from Akashic Books!

Preorder it now from any of these retailers: Akashic Books, Bookshop, Books-A-Million, Target, Barnes & Noble, Walmart.

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!
I am now booking for 2024!

Poet & Editor J. Bailey Hutchinson, one of my Season 4 guests!

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I had a great time talking to J. Bailey Hutchinson, the second of my three Season 4 guests, in a special Halloween episode of Tightwires!

Bailey is a fellow Open Mouth Literary Center and Arkansas MFA alum— she was a fourth year when I was a first year— and I’ve long admired her work. Including her 2022 Miller Williams Poetry Prize-Winning debut collection Gut, which we discussed at length during our conversation and for which she is currently touring.

Other topics of discussion: the post-grad school job hunt, navigating truth in writing, our endless admiration for poet & professor Geffrey Davis, how butchery is like poetry, and the best chicken wings in Fayetteville!

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!
I am now booking for 2024!

Indie Bookstore founder & comparative literature graduate Diana Dominguez, one of my Tightwires Season 4 guests!

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Last month, I spoke to the first of my three Season 4 guests! Diana Dominguez, founder of Más Libritos bookstore in Springdale, Arkansas, had so much to say about the day to day life of a bookstore owner– I learned so much!

View our full conversation below, and check out Más Libritos when you get a chance. It’s an intersectional feminist bookstore of new and used books that center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and it’s the first and only Latina-owned independent bookstore in Arkansas!

Poet & Ph.D. Taylor Byas, my Tightwires Season 3 guest!

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This week on Tightwires, I’m so excited to feature a recent conversation with poet and Ph.D. Taylor Byas, who shared some incredibly valuable words on poetry and process.

I have long been a Taylor Byas fan and so enjoyed reading her debut full-length collection, I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES, this summer. It’s the sort of book that rewards repeat reading, a poignant journey full of careful considerations that have come to feel like hallmarks of Taylor’s work. (A tiny example: The first line of the first poem is in conversation with the last line of the last poem.) I already can’t wait to revisit!

I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES will be released on Tuesday, August 22 from Soft Skull Press. You can preorder it now from a preferred retailer on this page: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/731254/i-done-clicked-my-heels-three-times-by-taylor-byas/

And in the meantime, you can view our full conversation below!

Writer & Comedian Mary Ryan Brown, my Tightwires Season 2 guest! 

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This week on Tightwires, I’m sharing a conversation with writer and comedian Mary Ryan Brown, who had so many insightful things to say about comedy, craft, and performance! I learned so much, which comes as no surprise— Mary Ryan and I met in my first poetry workshop at the University of Southern Mississippi and she’s been a dear friend and inspiration since!

View our full conversation below!

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!

Join me in the 2023 #ClimatePoemProject!

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It’s Week Three of National Poetry Month! I’m still sharing poetry collections and prompts every weekday on YouTube, but in anticipation of Earth Day this Saturday, I am also participating in the Authors Take Action #ClimatePoemProject!

You can find links to climate poetry prompts from your favorite children’s authors and poets here.

Here’s my contribution:

Write a poem about your oldest and most distinct memory of a weather event. Place either yourself or a favorite fictional character in the scene, and end the poem on a hopeful note.

Potential weather events could include:

  • Storms
  • Floods
  • Droughts
  • Tornadoes
  • Hurricanes
  • Hail
  • Snowstorms
  • etc.



Poetry, Prompts, and Paninis: My Latest Vlog Challenge!

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I love poetry! I hate poetry sometimes too. I always hate cooking.

My first quarter on YouTube was wild! I’m so grateful for all your support and willingness to humor me, truly.

And I’m ecstatic to start my second quarter with another challenge, one that’s somehow become more challenging than last quarter’s challenge, when I wrote an entire 50,000 word collection in 10 days–

In honor of National Poetry Month, I’ve promised to share a poetry collection every weekday, as well as a writing prompt and recipe inspired by that collection.

Each week’s featured titles form a spine poem! The first week was incredibly fun. We looked at American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes, Incendiary Art by Patricia Smith, A Fortune For Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib, If They Come For Us by Fatimah Asghar, and Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo.

And we made imitation McDonald’s apple pies, elevated grilled cheese paninis (for my Ramadan birthday!), digital cheeseboards, aloo keema, and apple Nutella rolls. Some recipes were more successful than others.

Here’s the original announcement video for the challenge:

And here’s a link to the playlist, where you can find all the week one videos!

I’m so grateful to be writing among these words and poets, and I’m so excited to reveal my remaining features.

The fun continues next week! And the week after that, and the week after that.

Join me?