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Direct link: July poetry (MP3)

In this episode of the Strange Horizons podcast, editor Ciro Faienza presents poetry from the issues.

  • “Odessa" by Marina Berlin, read by Marina Berlin. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Marina here.
  • “Interview with a 22nd-Century Sex Worker" by Darren Lipman, read by Ciro Faienza. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Darren here.
  • “A Mergirl Speaks of Travels" by Michelle Vider, read by Michelle Vider. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Michelle here.
  • “Duck Dance, Two-Step" by Halee Kirkwood, read by Halee Kirkwood. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Halee here.
  • “The Sparrows in Her Hair" by Hester J. Rook, read by Rebecca Brooks-Steele. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Hester J. here.
  • “Sawa" by Karolina Fedyk, read by Karolina Fedyk. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Karolina here.
  • “Stone Heart" by Omar Sakr, read by Ciro Faienza. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Omar here.
  • “eve (and adam)" by Safiya Njemile, read by Romie Stott. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Safiya here.



Njemile is a Trinidadian-American residing near Washington, D.C. When not writing poetry, she can be found on long hikes, architecting her next adventure.
Marina Berlin grew up speaking three languages in a coastal city far, far away. She’s an author of short stories who’s currently working on her first novel. You can follow her exploits on Twitter @berlin_marina or read more about her work at marinaberlin.org.
Darren Lipman graduated from NC State University with his master's in mathematics and a minor in poetry. He's currently moving from his hometown of Asheboro, NC, to Milwaukee, where he'll teach high school mathematics as a Teach for America 2016 corps member. Find him at thewritingwolf.wordpress.com, with fiction and poetry at silentsol.wordpress.com.
Michelle Vider is based in Philadelphia. Her work has appeared in The Toast, The Rumpus, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Open Letters Monthly, Atlas and Alice, and elsewhere. Find her at michellevider.com and @meanchelled.
Halee Kirkwood is a recent graduate of Northland College and will be soon attending Hamline University’s MFA program. Kirkwood also served as an editor for Aqueous Magazine, a Lake Superior region Literary & Performing Arts magazine. You can often find Kirkwood haunting the Twin Cities Metro Transit, staring out of windows and daydreaming about what secrets the roadside plants keep.
Hester J. Rook is a Rhysling Award and Australian Shadows Award shortlisted poet and co-editor of Twisted Moon Magazine.  They are often found salt-scrunched on beaches, reading arcane tales and losing the moon in mugs of tea. Find Hester on Twitter @hesterjrook and read more poems and fiction at hesterjrook.com.
Karolina Fedyk is a Polish writer of speculative poetry and fiction. Likes learning new languages, coffee, owls, and living in extreme latitudes. Tweets as @karigrafia.
Omar Sakr is a bisexual Arab Australian poet from Sydney. His poetry has been published by Meanjin, Overland, Tincture, Carve and Mascara Literary Review, among others. He recently placed runner-up in the Judith Wright Poetry Prize, and his debut collection, These Wild Houses , is forthcoming from Cordite Books (2017).
Current Issue
20 Jan 2025

Strange Horizons
Surveillance technology looms large in our lives, sold to us as tools for safety, justice, and convenience. Yet the reality is far more sinister.
Vans and campers, sizeable mobile cabins and some that were barely more than tents. Each one a home, a storefront, and a statement of identity, from the colorful translucent windows and domes that harvested sunlight to the stickers and graffiti that attested to places travelled.
“Don’t ask me how, but I found out this big account on queer Threads is some kind of super Watcher.” Charlii spins her laptop around so the others can see. “They call them Keepers, and they watch the people that the state’s apparatus has tagged as terrorists. Not just the ones the FBI created. The big fish. And people like us, I guess.”
It's 9 a.m., she still hasn't eaten her portion of tofu eggs with seaweed, and Amaia wants the day to be over.
Nadjea always knew her last night in the Clave would get wild: they’re the only sector of the city where drink and drug and dance are unrestricted, and since one of the main Clavist tenets is the pursuit of corporeal joy in all its forms, they’ve more or less refined partying to an art.
surviving / while black / is our superpower / we lift broken down / cars / over our heads / and that’s just a tuesday
After a few deft movements, she tossed the cube back to James, perfectly solved. “We’re going to break into the Seattle Police Department’s database. And you’re going to help me do it.”
there are things that are toxic to a bo(d)y
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  In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Michelle Kulwicki's 'Bee Season' read by Emmie Christie Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.
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