EPISODE · Nov 14, 2025 · 49 MIN
Ep. 19. Victoria Adukwei Bulley, 'The Ultra-Black Fish'
from Books Up Close: The Podcast · host Chris Lloyd
In this episode I talk to Victoria Adukwei Bulley's poem 'The Ultra-Black Fish' from her collection Quiet (2022). You can also read the poem at Granta.Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a poet, writer and artist whose work has appeared widely in publications including the London Review of Books, LitHub, and The Atlantic. She is the winner of an Eric Gregory Award, and her critically acclaimed debut poetry book, QUIET, won the Folio Prize for Poetry, the John Pollard Poetry Prize, and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. QUIET is published by Faber & Faber in the UK and in North America by Knopf, Penguin Random House.Episode references: Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals Saidiya Hartman, Waywards Lives, Beautiful Experiments Kevin Quashie, The Sovereignty of Quiet and Black Aliveness, or A Poetics of Being Layli Long Solider, Whereas Rickey Laurentiis, Death of the First IdeaFollow the show on Instagram. Find Victoria on Instagram. Please leave feedback here.Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd.
What this episode covers
In this episode I talk to Victoria Adukwei Bulley's poem 'The Ultra-Black Fish' from her collection Quiet [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/quiet-victoria-adukwei-bulley/6754129?ean=9780571370337&next=t] (2022). You can also read the poem at Granta [https://granta.com/three-poems-victoria-adukwei-bulley/]. Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a poet, writer and artist whose work has appeared widely in publications including the London Review of Books, LitHub, and The Atlantic. She is the winner of an Eric Gregory Award, and her critically acclaimed debut poetry book, QUIET, won the Folio Prize for Poetry, the John Pollard Poetry Prize, and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. QUIET is published by Faber & Faber in the UK and in North America by Knopf, Penguin Random House. Episode references: * Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/undrowned-black-feminist-lessons-from-marine-mammals-emergent-strategy-series-alexis-pauline-gumbs/4938231?ean=9781849353977&next=t] * Saidiya Hartman, Waywards Lives, Beautiful Experiments [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/wayward-lives-beautiful-experiments-intimate-histories-of-riotous-black-girls-troublesome-women-and-queer-radicals-saidiya-hartman/4819349?ean=9781788163248&next=t] * Kevin Quashie, The Sovereignty of Quiet [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-sovereignty-of-quiet-beyond-resistance-in-black-culture-kevin-quashie/2416993?ean=9780813553108&next=t]and Black Aliveness, or A Poetics of Being [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/black-aliveness-or-a-poetics-of-being-kevin-quashie/19c96f4c91e8d09c?ean=9781478014010&next=t] * Layli Long Solider, Whereas [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/whereas-layli-long-soldier/3477782?ean=9781529012804&next=t] * Rickey Laurentiis, Death of the First Idea [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753987/death-of-the-first-idea-by-rickey-laurentiis/] Follow the show on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/booksupclose]. Find Victoria on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/victoriaadukweibulley/?hl=en]. Please leave feedback here [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2-MtVOsMawJDpBA3aJ944dVUMkI4OTA3N0dBMUE2SDVJWlpaOE8zNlo4NC4u]. Produced, hosted, and edited by Chris Lloyd [https://www.instagram.com/chrisllloyd9].
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Ep. 19. Victoria Adukwei Bulley, 'The Ultra-Black Fish'
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