Destiny O. Birdsong

1 week ago | pw.org | Destiny O. Birdsong

It is less than forty-eight hours after Super Bowl LIX and the rapper Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance (not to mention the Philadelphia Eagles’ blowout over the heavily favored Kansas City Chiefs) when I sit down for a Zoom interview with Douglas Kearney, an award-winning poet, performer, professor, and author of nine books, including the poetry collection I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always, published by Wave Books in April.

2 months ago | chapter16.org | Stephanie Niu |Bobby Rogers |Tiana Clark |Destiny O. Birdsong

When the ship to Mars has already departed,and my wealthiest friends have plots in New Zealandfor their children, or have no children, what boxdo I put my treasure in? I have one waterproof bagthat clips at the top. Every month, money dripsinto my retirement account. You think the worldwill still be around when you’re sixty-five? I don’t knowwhat it means to survive. I’ve learned all I canabout the Svalbard seed vault. I used to spend timeon the names of birds until the warblers disappeared.

2 months ago | bookpage.com | Destiny O. Birdsong

It is safe to say that neither I nor Imani Perry, author of more than half a dozen books, including the National Book Award-winning South to America, knew what kind of morning we would awaken to when we scheduled our interview for November 6, 2024.

Oct 8, 2024 | pw.org | Destiny O. Birdsong

Forty-five minutes into my Zoom interview with Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian poet and teacher who is the founder of the Edward Said Public Library, the first English-language library in Gaza, a door opens off-screen. Moments later a small hand clutches the poet’s shoulder. It is four-year-old Mostafa, who, after coming in earlier to say hello, has now returned with a very urgent question. Mosab Abu Toha, author of the poetry collection Forest of Noise.

Sep 11, 2024 | audacity.substack.com | Destiny O. Birdsong

The Journey of “The Jump”I was reading in bed at 3:45 AM on August 31st when an email popped up on my phone. It was from the editor of a journal that, hours before, had published my short story, “The Jump,” about a queer writer who turns to lesbian sex work. “The Jump” had been easy to write but hard to publish, with countless tiered rejections asking for something different.