Akasha Hull, Ph.D.

Poet and Writer

Literary Activist

Lecturer

Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz

Akasha Hull, Ph.D.
This Is How We Come Back Stronger

Featured New Work By Akasha Hull

“Oh, Freedom”

“Oh, Freedom”: A Suite of Journal Poems. Appearing in This Is How We Come Back Stronger: Feminist Writers on Turning Crisis Into Change. Edited by The Feminist Book Society (U.K.). Published by Feminist Press (U.S.)/and other stories press (U.K.). March, 2021.

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Excerpts From Akasha Hull Manuscript

Death Calls, Life Calls: Brazen Journal Poems.

Death Calls, Life Calls: Brazen Journal Poems. (August 2019 – February 2021). Completed manuscript seeking publication.

These poems explore and celebrate the interlacing of life and death amid personal and social challenges and the Covid-19 upheaval.

Click to Scroll to a Poem:

(11/18/19) Without Arms
(3/25/20) Tragically Belated
(10/30/20) It Only Takes One
(1/26/21) Tuesday, 9:45 p.m.
11/18/19

Without arms
I cannot wave—
or make waves
Without legs
I cannot walk

So Milton said
“They also serve
who only stand and wait.”

They are standing on feet

But Milton’s making a poem, right?
—abstract, imagistic
Well, I’m writing a poem now, too

Spirit is metaphor
Life on earth is concrete



© Akasha Hull
3/25/20

 

Tragically Belated / Future Possible
(A Collective Work-In-Progress)

 

Why does it take a virus pandemic
for mass society to act like:

 

We’re all one
We’re in this together
The government should care
for its citizens
Our food supply depends upon
undocumented workers
Doctors with degrees from abroad
are qualified to practice medicine
Supermarket shelf stockers
deserve a living wage
Every worker needs at least
a two-week vacation
Our economy is pleasure-bloated
The “health care” system
is a broken mess
Congressional laws must
hold corporations accountable

 

Nurses should be treated
like royalty
The homeless can be housed
in nice, empty hotels
The creative genius of people
far exceeds passive consumerism,
sports events, and video games
The most vulnerable among us
should be remembered and protected
Price-gouging is a crime
People deserve better than eviction
from their homes and apartments
It is perilous to ignore science
We belong to the earth
and Spirit moves among us

 

The list goes on … … …
The question is
Can we make the realizations stick
and institutionalize the lessons
Truth and justice are not
handy umbrellas
To be pulled forth
when the sky starts falling
We can not emergency manage our way
out of systemic social failure

 

© Feminist Press / and other stories / Akasha Hull
10/30/20

It Only Takes One

Orangey red cardinal
on a bare branched tree
to change the landscape
of a wintry day

© Akasha Hull
1/26/21

Tuesday, 9:45 p.m.

My apartment is super-quiet
because the Jewish pair next door
and the younger couple upstairs
have already gone to bed tonight

If I had somebody to snuggle with
I’d be under the covers now too
The earth lying still beneath the snow
Stars singing in tones
only they themselves can hear

© Akasha Hull

Gallery

Book-Length Published Works

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Akasha Hull completing a book club reading, Little Rock, Arkansas, Spring 2013

Akasha Hull completing a book club reading, Little Rock, Arkansas, Spring 2013

Akasha Hull completing a book club reading, Little Rock, AR, spring 2013

Contact

Dr. Akasha Hull is available for readings, workshops, and lectures about her writing and literary work.

Email: Akasha@akashahull.com
Creativity, Black Feminist Roots, and Human Revolution Lecture

Watch “Creativity, Black Feminist Roots, and Human Revolution” lecture.

University of California, Santa Barbara, May 19, 2003
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Finding Our Way- A Conversation with Dr. Akasha Hull

Watch "Finding Our Way: A Conversation with Dr. Akasha Hull (With photographers Mary Margaret Hansen and Patsy Cravens)"

Houston, Texas, October 17, 2015

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Akasha Hull, Ph.D.

December, 2020

Akasha Hull, Ph.D.

Aurelia Works