Content note: This episode includes discussion of school violence.
In this Author Up, we’re joined by poet, mediator, facilitator, and Chicago ACT Collective member Hilesh Patel, whose poem “Apples and a cold slice of pizza, eaten arc first” won Quibble’s Most Heartbreaking Quippy Award.
The poem is devastating in its restraint: ordinary school details — apples, pizza, math, a child’s point of view — slowly sharpen against the horror of a school shooting. In our conversation, Hilesh talks about where the poem began, how poetry can bear witness without overexplaining, and what it means to use art as a way of responding to violence, grief, and political disparity.
We also talk about Hilesh’s path into poetry, his work with The Chicago ACT Collective, and how mediation, facilitation, listening, conflict, and repair shape his creative practice.
Read Hilesh’s Quippy-winning poem, listen to the episode, and join us for a conversation about poetry as witness, art as community work, and the power of using one’s voice with care.
As always, thank you for listening, and stay curious!
