APARNA PAUL

WRITING

Poetry Books (full length + chapbooks)

HOME FREE. Game Over Books, Oct. 2025.

CALCIUM RICH, self-published, May 2026 (chapbook).
are you cool with it?, YAM HOUSE, May 2024 (chapbook).
Bebé's First Chapbook, YAM HOUSE, May 2023 (chapbook).

Poetry & Prose Publications

2025

"EVERYONE LOVES A PARTY," "native speaker," "language immersion," MENACE, issue 2, Fall 2025
"these days, everybody wants to hear the prophecies of yore at a mcdonald’s drive through, and i just don’t think that that’s what i’m after," Voicemail Poems, Summer 2025
"on the night the snakes came into the bed," the engine(idling, no. 6: yarn, May 2025
"no, my fridge isn't haunted," Gaining Ground, April 2025
"menu from tonight's dinner party," Gaining Ground, April 2025

2024

"a love letter from the mounted moose head in Ralph's Diner," Stones of Madness Press, issue 27, Fall 2024
"fruits at the end of the world," Gaining Ground, April 2024

2023

"I DREAM MY MOTHER ON HER DEATHBED," Button Poetry, published February 2024 (performed August 2023)
"the day after the ten-year drought ended," DMQ Review, Summer 2023

2022

"Little Apocalypses," Reckoning, Summer 2022
- interview with E.C. Barrett about "Little Apocalypses"
- review of Reckoning 7 by Charles Payseur: "Paul’s prose resounds with warmth and power, showing that worlds end, and stories change, but there are new worlds, and new storytellers to carry on."

2021

"Third Culture Cadence," Case Reserve Review, Spring 2021
"Three Words," Case Reserve Review, Spring 2021

Performance videos

"I DREAM MY MOTHER ON HER DEATHBED," Button Poetry, published February 2024 (performed August 2023).
"warp & weft," Game Over Books, published January 2026 (performed July 2024).
Other performance videos available upon request

Self-publishing (contact me if ur interested in copies of any of these! most things here, if available, are $1–$10)

"Kiki asks me to write a poem about frosted mini wheats," GOOD SOUP vol. iv: recipe for odds & ends, September 2024
"invocation #1," GOOD SOUP vol. ii: recipe for DIY, March 2024
"HOW TO FALL IN LOVE," GOOD SOUP vol. ii: recipe for DIY, March 2024
"the poets want you to know that it's easier to write blackout poetry than you think," GOOD SOUP vol. ii: recipe for DIY, March 2024
"thought to be one of the rarest snakes in north america, no louisiana pine snake has been seen in the last decade, until today, when we start to see them everywhere," GOOD SOUP vol. i: recipe for disaster, February 2024

Zines (contact me if ur interested in copies of any of these! most things here, if available, are $1–$10)

"maybe I should write another Sisyphus poem," YAM HOUSE, Aug. 2024 (mini zine)
"TRAVELING THOUGHTS," YAM HOUSE, May 2023 (mini zine)

ORGANIZING

volunteer host & staff member at the Boston Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge (involved from spring 2022–present)
volunteer organizer of INTERWOVEN: A Multigenerational Showcase of Textile and Fiber Arts at the Cambridge Public Library (July 2024)
volunteer host & organizer of Poetry in the Garden at the Somerville Community Growing Center (2024 and 2025 summer series)
- I co-hosted the 2025 summer series with Amy Argentar, and we also ran mini workshops during the mic
volunteer host of the Flow State Open Mic at Narrative Bookstore in Somerville, MA (every third Thursday)
- list of past features at this show: Yena Sharma Purmasir, Joshua Nguyen, Jess Rizkallah, Brynna Boyd, Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah, Ricky Orng, Zenaida Peterson

SEE ME PERFORM (past & upcoming)

upcoming

every Wednesday @ the Boston Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge (Cambridge, MA)
every third Thursday @ Flow State Open Mic at Narrative Bookshop (Somerville, MA)
Porchfest, w/ Where's Waldo Audiobook – Somerville, MA – May 9, 2026
(w/ the 2026 Boston Poetry Slam team) Northbeast Regional – Cambridge, MA – Jul. 31–Aug. 2, 2026

past

(w/ the 2026 Boston Poetry Slam team) Midwest Mashup – Minneapolis, MN – Apr. 25–26, 2025
DC Climate Week: HOME FREE @ Temperance Alley Garden – Washington, DC – Apr. 19, 2026
House show – Boulder, CO – Feb. 7, 2026
(feature!) That's Poetic! – Chicago, IL – Dec. 14, 2025
House show w/ Disha Trivedi, Sam Cha, & Kat Anderson – Brooklyn, NY – Dec. 6, 2025
(feature!) ProvSlam – Providence, RI – Dec. 4, 2025
author reading @ North Figueroa Books – Los Angeles, CA – with Summer Farah and Ryan Phung – Nov. 9, 2025
(feature!) Berkeley Poetry Slam @ The Starry Plough – Berkeley, CA – Nov. 5, 2025
(feature!) Poetry Cauldron Columbus @ Kerouac Kafe – Columbus, OH – Oct. 29, 2025
(feature!) Con Tú @ Dunlap's Corner Bar – Cleveland, OH – Oct. 26, 2025
author reading @ the Baker-Nord Institute – Cleveland, OH – Oct. 24, 2025
(feature!) Broadsides & Ephemera @ Loganberry Books – Cleveland, OH – Oct. 22, 2025
HOME FREE book launch! @ The Foundry – Cambridge, MA – Oct. 18, 2025
(feature!) Just Be(Loved) @ Just Book-ish – Dorchester, MA – Oct. 17, 2025
(feature!) Flow State @ Narrative Bookshop – Somerville, MA – Oct. 16, 2025
(host) Poetry in the Garden @ the Somerville Community Growing Center – Somerville, MA – July 22, 2025
Artist Showcase @ Narrative, w/ Where's Waldo Audiobook – Somerville, MA – July 22, 2025
(w/ the 2025 Boston Poetry Slam team) NorthBeast Regional @ The Foundry – Cambridge, MA – July 12–13, 2025
- winner, Pushing the Art Forward
Porchfest, w/ Where's Waldo Audiobook – Somerville, MA – May 10, 2025
(w/ the 2025 Boston Poetry Slam team) Midwest Mashup – Minneapolis, MN – Apr. 25–26, 2025
winner, Berkeley Poetry Slam – Berkeley, CA – Apr. 23, 2025
Live Jazz @ Narrative, w/ Mesento – Somerville, MA – Nov. 19, 2024
(feature!) Slam Free or Die – Manchester, NH – Oct. 10, 2024
(feature!) Liberation Open Mic @ the Boston Liberation Center – Roxbury, MA – Oct. 11, 2024
winner, Denver Mercury Poetry Slam – Denver, CO – Sept. 22, 2024
(w/ the 2024 Boston Poetry Slam team) NorthBeast Regional @ The Foundry – Cambridge, MA – July 20–21, 2024
GMOrning America, w/ Lemon in the Weed Pipe – Cambridge, MA – July 4, 2024
Porchfest, w/ Lemon in the Weed Pipe and Where's Waldo Audiobook Experience – Somerville, MA – May 11, 2024
(feature!) Bards on the Rocks – Manchester, NH – Feb. 28, 2024
(feature!) Dirty Gerund – Worcester, MA – Dec. 18, 2023
(w/ the 2023 Boston Poetry Slam team) NorthBeast Regional @ The Foundry – Cambridge, MA – June 17–18, 2024
Porchfest, w/ Spiderwater and Lemon in the Weed Pipe – Somerville, MA – May 13, 2023
grand champion, Boston Poetry Slam – Cambridge, MA – March 2023