@sdleyva

Poet, Cave Canem Fellow, Associate Prof. @ubaltmain, Author of The Understudy’s Handbook (@WWPHPress 2020), and The Opposite of Cruelty (@Blairpublisher 2025)

 Baltimore
stevenleyva.wordpress.com/
Joined September 2011
  • Tweets16.2K
  • Following614
  • Followers1.4K
5.2KMedia
If you want to pre-order my second collection from @BlairPublisher you can at the link below. blairpub.com/shop/p/the-oppo…

The Opposite of Cruelty, poems by Steven Leyva — Blair Publisher

Steven Leyva’s second collection of poetry renders beauty through a Black man’s lens in a post-pandemic world populated with superheroes and characters from ancient mythology.

blairpub.com
1
1
8
986
Sometimes you gotta jump, jive, and wail — OOOOOOHHHHHH. #micropoeticas
37
What a wonderful conversation this was with Ross Gay. Thankful to be the host for this via HoCoPoLitSo youtu.be/MBz7LGeCvAQ?si=D9yL…

Joy, poems and basketball

Ross Gay, the New York Times-bestselling poet and essayist, talks w...

youtube.com
1
3
140
Poems are still divine
1
82
Steven Leyva retweeted
TJ, the Librarian.@troyfin2Jul 12
Thought I needed to share these dating profiles I made for Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake for a project in my Batman class at the University of Baltimore a few years back. 😆🦇
1
3
29
1,787
Steven Leyva retweeted
MARK@markplasmaJul 7
Replying to @giordkat
that's why I always try to push in-person readings & shows, crossover events & physical publications, that's where actual community happens. I've personally met & spent time with every bruiser editor. Real stuff for real people in the real world.
1
1
3
56
Steven Leyva retweeted
MARK@markplasmaMay 22
how your email finds me
Sci-Fi Archives
@SciFiArchivesMay 21
Cover art for “SHADOWRUN: Corporate Security” (1995), illustrated by Doug Andersen.
1
3
12
549
Poet @sdleyva reading for us at AWP. Steven Leyva is the author of The Understudy’s Handbook (Writers' Pub. House) & The Opposite of Cruelty (@BlairPublisher). His poems appear in @SmartishPace. #poetry #poet #smartishpace #AWP #bmoreart youtu.be/1MdNZAzt6Sk?si=Djcx… via @YouTube
1
4
128
Marianne Chan, @justinmarkspb & @sdleyva poetry reading for us recently at #AWP. The reading was hosted by @32_Poems @barrelhouse & @SmartishPace. #SmartishPace #Poetry #PoetryReading #Poems #32Poems #Barrelhouse #CreativeWriting #AWP27 youtu.be/pHjD58wjFp4?si=KJbo… via @YouTube
1
3
77
Poems are therefore we are. Let the church say amen. Let a man church the white space until it blackens. And since it was our sisters who first said, “i have seen the lord,” poems are.
1
43
Steven Leyva retweeted
MARK@markplasmaFeb 26
This argument always gets hung up on prestige programs and flattens the broader MFA experience. I went to a state school for free, my classmates were working adults, several alumni run notable presses. A fancy degree might open some doors but it won't make you a better artist.
Horse Nomad (Chicago-style) ⚔️
@Nomads4PritzkerFeb 26
People seemed interested in my thoughts on this, so I wrote about the MFA-ification of American letters and what MFAs select for: estragon.news/the-oracular-o…
2
1
45
3,214
Steven Leyva retweeted
MARK@markplasmaFeb 27
my MFA didn't get me into the New Yorker but it made me write, design and publish my first book. it honed so many of the skills I needed to make BRUISER. that's real shit.
2
24
365
Steven Leyva retweeted
MARK@markplasmaFeb 27
if you're mad about "MFA writers" it's because you keep reading legacy publications that mostly publish "MFA writing" and expecting a new experience. you are bored because you are boring.
6
1
79
2,512
Steven Leyva retweeted
MARK@markplasmaFeb 27
fwiw my program isn't even funded. I took advantage of a tuition remission opportunity while working full time; many classmates found similar ways in. huge props to the UBMFA for opening their arms to an incredibly diverse range of mostly working and lower-middle class writers
Horse Nomad (Chicago-style) ⚔️
@Nomads4PritzkerFeb 26
Replying to @markplasma
I also went to a funded program at a state school! But I definitely agree with your conclusion.
1
2
20
1,234
pergolalit.com/poetry/steven… New poem from Hood College’s Lit Mag, Pergola

Steven Leyva | Pergola Literary Magazine

pergolalit.com
1
58
IYKYK
35
Let’s go!
2
54
One last poem for 2025? Either way, here's "Ars Poetica: Dirges" in Brown Bag. Scroll to the bottom of the page to read this @sdleyva inspired ars poetica brownbag.online/issue-11/

Issue 11 - Brown Bag

Reuban Letter from the Editor For the second time, our No Theme theme generated one anyway. We found consistent threads of time within each piece. We saw the progress and regress of living. We felt...

brownbag.online
2
2
87
The Smashing Pumpkins still hit. That’s it. #uncrecs
31
Poem and the Poem that inspired it
32
Last chance to submit for the Wren Poetry Prize, which recognizes a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd poetry collection. Winner receives $1K advance against royalties and gets to work with Blair. No reading fee. Send by Sat, Nov 15—but the portal closes early if we reach 300 submissions first!
Upper right corner image is of Blair Publisher logo. Text: Wren Poetry Prize Last Call, Closing Nov. 15 (capped at 300). The Wren Poetry Prize is for a first, second, or third full-length poetry collection. Judged by Sandra Beasley. Bottom right corner image is photo of Sandra Beasley.

ALT Upper right corner image is of Blair Publisher logo. Text: Wren Poetry Prize Last Call, Closing Nov. 15 (capped at 300). The Wren Poetry Prize is for a first, second, or third full-length poetry collection. Judged by Sandra Beasley. Bottom right corner image is photo of Sandra Beasley.

Text: Wren Poetry Prize. Submission info: Free to enter. Link on Submittable. Opens: October 1. Closes: November 15 OR after 300 submissions. This award is for a first, second, or third full-length poetry collection. Winner receives $1,000 in the form of an advance against royalties and a standard publishing contract. Manuscripts should be 54 pages of poems with each poem beginning on a new page. No identifying information in manuscript or file name. Acknolwedgements for previously published poems can be included. Current or former colleagues, current or former extended-length students, and close friends and family of the contest judge are not eligible. For updates and reminders, follow Blair on instagram or Facebook, or sign up for our newsletter at www.blairpub.com. Contact ops@blairpub.com with questions or accessibility requests.

ALT Text: Wren Poetry Prize. Submission info: Free to enter. Link on Submittable. Opens: October 1. Closes: November 15 OR after 300 submissions. This award is for a first, second, or third full-length poetry collection. Winner receives $1,000 in the form of an advance against royalties and a standard publishing contract. Manuscripts should be 54 pages of poems with each poem beginning on a new page. No identifying information in manuscript or file name. Acknolwedgements for previously published poems can be included. Current or former colleagues, current or former extended-length students, and close friends and family of the contest judge are not eligible. For updates and reminders, follow Blair on instagram or Facebook, or sign up for our newsletter at www.blairpub.com. Contact [email protected] with questions or accessibility requests.

1
4
128
Load more