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Steven Leyva

@stevenleyva.bsky.social
493 followers 156 following 251 posts

Poet, Associate Professor at the University of Baltimore, Nerd, Author of THE UNDERSTUDY’S HANDBOOK and THE OPPOSITE OF CRUELTY

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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Come thru!
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Sometimes you gotta jump, jive, and wail — oooooooohhhhh #micropoeticas #onesentencecrafttalk
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zephyrpress.bsky.social @zephyrpress.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Thank you @wirobooks.bsky.social for this review!
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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
New collections to make life more lyrical. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... @zephyrpress.bsky.social @stevenleyva.bsky.social #poetry #booksky #yauching
washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com
On Poetry: August 2026 | Washington Independent Review of Books
The Independent is an important voice in the community of readers and writers dedicated to book reviews and writing about the world of books.
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Alina Stefanescu @alinaetc.bsky.social · 12/06/2023
I’ve been thinking about this poem by ⁦@sdleyva⁩ all weekend. poems.com/poem/a-poem-avoiding-its-…
poems.com
"A Poem Avoiding Its Own Tour of Force" by Steven Leyva
from Smartish Pace
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Cortney Lamar Charleston @bardsbesidebars.bsky.social · 09/04/2024
Another day, another new poem at @therumpus.bsky.social in celebration of National Poetry Month. You can enjoy Steven Leyva's excellent "Full Benefits & S.S. Checks" at the link! therumpus.net/2024/04/09/n...
therumpus.net
National Poetry Month: Steven Leyva - The Rumpus
:: one month of gap coverage  ::  can’t be sick / in August  ::  can’t be this tired today  ::  can’t be poor ever  ::
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I loved those
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glitterature @glitterature.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Tomorrow night at the Ivy Bookshop with Arielle Hebert & @stevenleyva.bsky.social ✨. We will be inside to avoid the storms, come thru ✨
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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
New collections to make life more lyrical. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... @cavankerrypress.bsky.social @stevenleyva.bsky.social #booksky
washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com
On Poetry: June 2026 | Washington Independent Review of Books
The Independent is an important voice in the community of readers and writers dedicated to book reviews and writing about the world of books.
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... My latest review
washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com
On Poetry: June 2026 | Washington Independent Review of Books
The Independent is an important voice in the community of readers and writers dedicated to book reviews and writing about the world of books.
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
I appreciate you reading it. Those are some of my favorite lines
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Thank you 🙏🏿
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The Book Dragons Lair @hammerofthedragon.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKHAUL PART 1. The Opposite of Cruelty by Steven Leyva The World wasn't ready for you by Justin C. Key Out There Screaming- Black Horror Anthology Jackal by Erin E. Adams Year of the Mer by L.D. Lewis #booksky #blacksky #blackauthors #bookhaul ##bookfestival #blerd #staynerdy
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Awesome aural resonance in this reading of my poem. This is the third time someone has read it aloud and posted a recording of it. I’m really thankful that people want to read this poem aloud.
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Thank you for sharing this, and what a beautiful reading of my poem.
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Six is ravenous and profane. @thesix.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Seeing in the dark more than a meal. Limerence by Steven Leyva #Voice by me.
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Smartish Pace @smartishpace.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Poet @stevenleyva.bsky.social reading at @awpwriter.org. Leyva is the author of The Understudy’s Handbook & The Opposite of Cruelty (Blair). Poems appear in @smartishpace.bsky.social. C U in Chicago! #poetry #poet #smartishpace #AWP #bmoreart #AWP26 #AWP27 youtu.be/1MdNZAzt6Sk?... via @YouTube
youtu.be
Steven Leyva Poetry Reading
YouTube video by SmartishPace
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
youtu.be/pHjD58wjFp4?...
youtu.be
Marianne Chan, Justin Marks & Steven Leyva Poetry Reading
YouTube video by SmartishPace
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Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
“A debut of startling promise, specific pleasure, and honest love.” #poetry of @jaiofearth.bsky.social Review by @stevenleyva.bsky.social
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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
New collections to make life more lyrical. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... @stevenleyva.bsky.social @ohiostatepress.bsky.social @jaiofearth.bsky.social #booksky
washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com
On Poetry: April 2026 | Washington Independent Review of Books
The Independent is an important voice in the community of readers and writers dedicated to book reviews and writing about the world of books.
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KBIA @kbianews.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Steven Leyva discusses his poetry collection, 'The Opposite of Cruelty.' He will talk about the work more at Unbound Book Festival's Warp Speed Ahead: Nerd Culture and Literature panel.
kbia.org
Unbound Conversations: Steven Leyva's poetic journey finding 'The Opposite of Cruelty'
Steven Leyva discusses his poetry collection, 'The Opposite of Cruelty.' He will talk about the work more at Unbound Book Festival's Warp Speed Ahead: Nerd Culture and Literature panel.
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The Book Dragons Lair @hammerofthedragon.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
A Special Edition Lair Poetry Corner!! Ode to Storm,Goddess, Thief, Mutant, Queen by Steven Leyva #booksky #blacksky #poetry #nerdypoetry #blerd #staynerdy
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suse anderson @shineslike.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
(Jumping in from another field to add that no one can honestly be invested in changing any field if preparation for that field also requires perpetuating cruel historical practices.)
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
I agree wholeheartedly. Friend it is fundamentally nonsensical and rooted in an unhealthy and unexamined desire to form a malformed kinship by making someone else suffer they way one has suffered. Not everything needs to be a trail by fire 🔥.
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Cruelty is not a rite of passage but an aberration. We need not need to adopt the rhetoric and praxis of the military to educate and inspire young and emerging writers.
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
And it before any “grit” is possible, what that hazing creates is an immense erosion of trust which is deadly to the imagination of the artist. We don’t need to be mean or harsh to prepare students for a harsh world. We need to be honest and supportive (which doesn’t mean pollyannaish).
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
No matter how much we may have suffered under certain harsh, toxic, or oppressive forms of art education (creative writing ✍🏾 in this case) it is cruel to “haze” our students, thinking it prepares them for the “industry”. Suffering is not the only road to resilience.
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The Book Dragons Lair @hammerofthedragon.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
!!!! It was such a great poem and I very much i enjoyed it. I hope i did it some modicum of Justice 💜
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River River Books @riverriverbooks.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
River River Books authors at the co-reading with Blair last night! Many thanks to @stevenleyva.bsky.social and University of Baltimore for hosting us!
Elizabeth Sylvia, Preeti Vangani, J.D. Ho, Zoe Ryder White, Beth Gilstrap, Jameela F. Dallis, standing in a row and laughing/smiling together
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Amorak Huey @amorak.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Praise for Mouth
The voice of Mouth is confident in its moves, sometimes breath-stopping in its leaps, by turns despairing and lusty, deeply funny, and-always— restoratively human.
-Sandra Beasley, author of Made to Explode: Poems

Amorak Huey's Mouth is an exploration-sometimes gentle, sometimes raucous-of one of the fundamental forces of nature: desire.... If we must crave and end, and if we must do it in this particular moment of human and geologic time-and, of course, we must-how lucky we are to have Mouth as our companion.
-Molly Spencer, author of Invitatory

If it is possible to make a guitar amp for the soul, to hear what moon, river, barn, and paramour all desire of each other, Amorak Huey has done it in Mouth. Each line is electric, illuminating poems that extend their metaphors, believing to endure in language is to make love endure.
—Steven Leyva, Author of The Opposite of Cruelty
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Thank you so much for highlighting my poem. Glad you enjoyed it
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The Book Dragons Lair @hammerofthedragon.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
A quick morning Lair Poetry Corner! Ode to Lando Calrissian by Steven Leyva #booksky #poetry #blacksky #nerdypoems #blerd #staynerdy
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Ugh 😩 . With so many good books out there too
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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
On Poetry: February 2026. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... @stevenleyva.bsky.social @riotinyourthroat.bsky.social #booksky
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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Come talk book reviewing with us at the University of Baltimore TONIGHT at 6 p.m.! www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/the... @stevenleyva.bsky.social @hsmithwrites.bsky.social #booksky
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
New Poem published today www.pergolalit.com/poetry/steve...
pergolalit.com
Steven Leyva | Pergola Literary Magazine
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
IYKYK
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Let’s go!
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Absolutely 💃🏾
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glitterature @glitterature.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
So, I’m thinking about writers who run running routes for @awpwriter.org with literary landmarks. When we run by University of Baltimore I’ll say, “your favorite poet’s favorite poets went here: Steven Leyva, Tonee Mae Moll, Tafisha Edwards…etc etc etc.”
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Amorak Huey @amorak.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Mouth comes out this week.
The cover of the book of poems Mouth, by Amorak Huey. 

Cover depicts a red-lipsticked mouth open in water. Praise for Mouth
The voice of Mouth is confident in its moves, sometimes breath-stopping in its leaps, by turns despairing and lusty, deeply funny, and-always— restoratively human.
-Sandra Beasley, author of Made to Explode: Poems

Amorak Huey's Mouth is an exploration-sometimes gentle, sometimes raucous-of one of the fundamental forces of nature: desire.... If we must crave and end, and if we must do it in this particular moment of human and geologic time-and, of course, we must-how lucky we are to have Mouth as our companion.
-Molly Spencer, author of Invitatory

If it is possible to make a guitar amp for the soul, to hear what moon, river, barn, and paramour all desire of each other, Amorak Huey has done it in Mouth. Each line is electric, illuminating poems that extend their metaphors, believing to endure in language is to make love endure.
—Steven Leyva, Author of The Opposite of Cruelty
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Christina Daub @christinadaub.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
#Poetry: Doesn’t it teach us how to mourn so that we’ll value having lived? @stevenleyva.bsky.social asks in his stirring review of Rara Avis by @blasfalconer.bsky.social in @wirobooks.bsky.social
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MoCo Underground Writers Showcase @mocounderground.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Very excited to be doing my first Wilde Readings event, with Steven Leyva, on Tuesday, January 13, 7:00-8:30 PM, at Queen Takes Book bookstore in Columbia, MD! There's also an open mic after our readings, if you're BOLD. :) More info and a fun interview here: hocopolitso.org #HoCoPoLitSo
hocopolitso.org
HoCoPoLitSo
Let there be lit.
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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Why middle age is the perfect time to revisit Middle Earth. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/a-m... @stevenleyva.bsky.social #booksky
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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
On Poetry: December 2025. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... @stevenleyva.bsky.social #booksky
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Stone Cold Jane Austen @abbyhiggs.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
I saw poet @stevenleyva.bsky.social and several other Cave Canem poets this afternoon at Motor House here in Baltimore. Check out Steven’s incredible new collection - “The Opposite of Cruelty” - here: blairpub.com/shop/p/the-o...
Steven Leyva reading at Motor House in Baltimore on Dec 7, 2025Steven Leyva reading at Motor House in Baltimore on Dec 7, 2025
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Dr. Han VanderHart @hanvanderhart.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
The poets / the poems 🌸 🌼 @stevenleyva.bsky.social @blairpub.bsky.social @ohiounivpress.bsky.social blairpub.com/shop/p/the-o... www.ohioswallow.com/978082142591...
Han VanderHart and Steven Leyva, on a cool April morning after brunch at The Boot Room. Han is wearing aviators (no light, no light) and a Leaf Village sweatshirt and Steven is wearing a red and blue adidas jacket and black avatar cap with a single white (pale blue?) arrow down the frontThe Opposite of Cruelty by Steven Leyva, surrounded by hot pink azaleas in Han’s front yardLarks by Han, with yellow forsythia blossoms, last month in March
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Jamey Gallagher @jameygallagher.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
On Dec 4, I'll be part of this reading at Fadensonnen in Baltimore. I hope people will come. No word on whether the pink bunny will show yet.
Flyer for a reading at Fadensonnen. A pink bunny in the foreground, yllow background. The type:

MESS AND FRICTION:
BALTIMORE READING SERIES
+
DEC. 4
7PM
FADENSONNEN UPSTAIRS TAVERN
3 W 23RD ST, 21218
STEVEN LEYVA
JAMEY GALLAGHER
PAIGE PASSANTINO
TONEE MAE MOLL
@MESSANDFRICTION
@FADEN. SONNEN
• ARTWORK BY EVANGELINE GALLAGHER
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Poem and the poem that inspired it
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Steven Leyva @stevenleyva.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Poems are enough to move a human soul
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