Conversation with Dena Rod, author of the forthcoming poetry collection "Scattered Arils." In this conversation, we talk about writing from the archive, queer Iranian experiences, connecting with inheritance, writing hard poems, writing communities, Bay Area gentrification, publishing, and much more!

Find Dena's book "Scattered Arils" here: https://milkandcakepress.com/product/coming-may-2021-scattered-arils-by-dena-rod/

Find Dena's website here:https://www.denarod.com/

Dena Rod is a writer, editor, and poet based in the Bay Area. A graduate of San Francisco State University, they have a M.A. in English Literature. They run the RADAR Productions weblog and are the Creative Nonfiction Editor at homology lit, and the former Managing Editor of Argot Magazine, a Webby-nominated queer non-profit. In 2020, they were selected to tour with Sister Spit, debuted the chapbook swallow a beginning, and joined The Rumpus’ Features Team. They’re a fellow of RADAR Productions’ Show Us Your Spines Residency, Kearny Street Workshop’s Interdisciplinary Writer’s Lab, and Winter Tangerine’s Summer Writer’s Workshop. Through creative nonfiction essays and poetry, Dena works to illuminate their diasporic experiences of Iranian heritage and queer identity, combating negative stereotypes of their intersecting identities in the mainstream media.

Find host Derek Berry here: derekberrywriter.com

Support the show here: patreon.com/contributeyourverse