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Direct link: January poetry (MP3)

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

  • “The Rambutan Man" by Naru Dames Sundar, read by Ciro Faienza. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Naru Dames here.
  • “Departures" by Sara Polsky, read by Romie Stott. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Sara here.
  • “Apotropaic Magic" by Margaret Wack, read by Romie Stott. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Margaret here.
  • “Uprooted" by Kit Hamada, read by Ciro Faienza. You can read the full text of the poem and more about Kit here.



Ciro Faienza (pronounced CHEE-roh) is an American/Italian national. He has acted on stages and screens throughout Texas and Massachusetts, and his work as a filmmaker has shown at the Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas Hub Theater, and the National Gallery, London. His fiction is featured in numerous publications, including Daily Science Fiction and Futuristica, Vol 1. His short story "J'ae's Solution" was a top finalist in PRI's 3-Minute Futures Contest. You can see his visual artwork at his web gallery, Postmedium.
Kit Hamada graduated from Wellesley College with a double major in Computer Science and English, and now writes code for a living. Her poetry and fiction have previously appeared in Liminality and 101 Fiction. She resides in Madison, WI with an assortment of hockey players and four-legged beasts.
Margaret Wack is a writer, poet, and classicist whose work has been published in Strange Horizons, Liminality, Twisted Moon, and others.  More can be found at margaretwack.com.
Naru Sundar (@naru_sundar) writes speculative fiction of all kinds. He has previously been a DJ, a composer, and a potter. When he isn’t devouring books or writing, he enjoys music and art and deep moments in the redwoods of northern California.
Romie Stott is the administrative editor and a poetry editor of Strange Horizons. Her poems have appeared in inkscrawl, Dreams & Nightmares, Polu Texni, On Spec, The Deadlands, and Liminality, but she is better known for her essays in The Toast and Atlas Obscura, and a microfiction project called postorbital. As a filmmaker, she has been a guest artist of the National Gallery (London), the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston), and the Dallas Museum of Art. You can find her fairly complete bibliography here.
Sara Polsky is the author of the YA novel This Is How I Find Her. Her book reviews and poetry have appeared previously in Strange Horizons.
Current Issue
12 Jan 2026

Despite the barriers between different cetacean languages, our song crosses the vastness of the oceans, traveling in sync with the currents and even traversing great expanses of land. Our singing conveys the concept of “hope,” which is how we define the wait until our home feels safe again.
When you falter, recall that age is not your master
Do you swallow big blue whale eyes straight out of the jar?
When Le Guin talks about genre writers as “the realists of a larger reality” we surrender the power of that when we narrow our work to only depict one type of future. We have great power to restore alternate narratives, to re-broaden the range of imaginable futures.
Wednesday: We Will Rise Again edited by Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older 
Friday: An Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka 
Issue 5 Jan 2026
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Issue 22 Dec 2025
Issue 15 Dec 2025
Strange Horizons
Issue 8 Dec 2025
Issue 1 Dec 2025
Issue 24 Nov 2025
Issue 17 Nov 2025
Issue 10 Nov 2025
By: B. Pladek
Podcast read by: Arden Fitzroy
Issue 3 Nov 2025
Issue 20 Oct 2025
By: miriam
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