Clay Matthews

Hayden's Ferry Review Blog: Writing to Remember

2012-01-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

The fine people at HFR have posted one of my poems from their latest issue on their blog. Go check it out, and while you're there, order a copy of the issue--you won't be sorry.

Hayden's Ferry Review Blog: Writing to Remember: The HFR staff will be taking a break from the blog until 2012, but we thought this lovely poem would be fantastic inspiration over this ...

Sumthin' Else

2011-09-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

Hi, Friends--

Please check out the latest review of Pretty, Rooster, by Adam Day, over at The Tusculum Review site. While you're there, check out the other pages on the review, too, and send us some work. Tell your friends. Get yourself a copy.

And, while you're on the web, look up some of Adam's work. It's fantastic stuff, and you're missing out if you don't know it.

Thanks as always for being here.

Doodle-do

2011-03-29T04:17:00.000-07:00

The Rooster has a page. Go now and check it out:

http://cooperdillon.com/prettyrooster.html

Big thanks to Adam for putting it together. They're about to start reading manuscripts, so, if you do that sort of thing, send them something.

Here's some nice words from Mark Wallace about the book, too (and some other good ones):

http://wallacethinksagain.blogspot.com/2011/03/brief-reviews.html

Bloom.

Eleven

2011-01-08T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hi, there. Happy New Year.

I'm late getting these out there, but if you haven't seen them yet, there's two new literary journals on the block that are must reads.

The first is The Fiddleback. This one has a sweet debut with poems from the likes of Lisa Lewis, Nate Pritts, Steven Schroeder, and more. An old pal, Jeff Simpson, is putting it out. Check it out.

The next one is edited by Scott Abels, Country Music. The first issue of this one has some great work, too, featuring poets like Matt Hart, Lucy Biederman, Jim Goar, and Jackie Clark. Go say Hi.

Go tell it on the mountain.

Come buy, Come buy

2010-11-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

Pretty, Rooster. Available Now.

And Yr Bird Can Sing

2010-10-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

The new book, Pretty, Rooster, gets a nod in Publisher's Weekly. Check it out:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/single/61071-pretty-rooster.html

Also, be sure to watch this site and the Cooper Dillon site for the official release, coming your way soon. In the meantime, head over to Cooper Dillon and buy some books!

Tickled

2010-09-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Very, very happy to announce that my next book, Pretty, Rooster, is going to be published by the fine, fine folks at Cooper Dillon Books. If you like roosters and sonnets and love and motors, then this thing is built custom just for you.

But no need to sit around waiting. They've got a fantastic catalog already rolling. So get that way and buy a book. Buy a few. Tell the people. Live the dream. Go forth and spread the word.

Only one thing I did wrong...

2010-07-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

Be sure and check out the new issue of Rick Magazine. For those of you unfamiliar with Rick Magazine, you might recognize it as the successor to the Mississippi Review online edition. Be sure and read up on your history there.

My friend, Vallie Lynn Watson, edits the newest issue: Summer 2010. Take a peak--there's good stuff to be found. Psst, psst, pass it around--share with friends.

Mic Check

2010-07-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

Cool off from the heat and check out this first book interview I did with Keith Montesano here. There's lots of other good ones already posted, too, so browse around. While you're in that neck of the woods, head over to Keith's blog and buy yourself a beautiful copy of his book, Ghost Lights.

Moonshine

2010-06-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

You all should go now and check out the new issue of Still. I've got some sonnets in there, and there's lots of awesome work. Shoo, now. Shoo.

Be Mine

2010-04-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've been really enjoying the new issues of Grist and the Burnside Review. Not only are these journals beautiful to hold, there's some fantastic work in there, too. Be a dear and buy an issue. Tell your friends.

Also, I've been spending some quality time with quality books. One is David Dodd Lee's The Nervous Filaments. Light makes these little leaps across spaces. Sometimes great spaces between the sky and earth. There are lines in this book that will fill you up, burn you down, and break your heart.

Also, if you haven't yet, you've gotta get Nate Pritts's The Wonderfull Yeare.

Go spend a little money. It feels good.

X

2010-03-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

Ladies & Gents, H_NGM_N X:

http://www.h-ngm-n.com/cur_ent-i_sue

Enjoy the show.

Hit-or-Miss Elegy

2010-03-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

Check out a new poem of mine over at Girls with Insurance. Many thanks to my good pal, Jon Thrower (their new poetry editor), for putting it on. Keep on eye on them.

Bark!

2010-02-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

Be sure and head over to Willow Springs' blog Bark, where Amanda Maule offers some lovely words about Runoff.

Lunch

2010-02-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Digging into the new issues of Bateau and Spinning Jenny. They're beautiful. You need them in your life. Go and order copies, subscribe, spread the word.

RUNOFF Lives

2010-01-08T12:43:00.001-08:00

I'm pleased to announce that Runoff is alive, and available for purchase here at Amazon. Get yourself a copy--it'll keep you warm.

Also, if you're a reviewer and are interested in a copy, or would like an electronic copy as a means to help spread the word, please just drop me a line.

Thanks for the support.

The Eagle has Landed

2009-12-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

Steve & co. have done it again. Check out the new issue of Anti-.

It's got a ton of good stuff, with poems by Samuel Day Wharton, Fritz Ward, Julie Marie Wade, Margot Schilpp, Nicholas Reading, G. M. Palmer, Clay Matthews, Dawn Lonsinger, Lisa Lewis, Sara Kearns, Todd Fredson, Gary Dop, Curtis L. Crisler, Nick Courtright, Chip Corwin & Michael Theune, Elizabeth J. Colen, Jenny Browne, and Albert Abonado.

Tell your friends. Go now.

The Icehouse

2009-12-05T07:12:00.001-08:00

First day of snow in East TN, and in honor of that, a selection from RUNOFF's (it's coming soon) winter poem:

In Thanks...

2009-11-26T10:52:00.000-08:00

From RUNOFF:

Pager - RUNOFF

2009-11-18T05:08:00.000-08:00

Runoff now has a page over at BlazeVOX. Go and check it out, and read the lovely blurbs written by my good friends Nate Pritts, Brandi Homan, and Matt Hart.

While you're there, order a book from the catalog! They make a great Xmas present, or anytime present. Support the cause.

Also, I'm looking to set up some readings in the near future, so if you're anywhere around East TN, or anywhere, really, give me a holler.

You've seen the front of the book, so here's the back:

Here Come the M_n

2009-10-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

Citizens of the world!

H_NGM_N #9 is locked & loaded & ready to be dropped from a low flying plane on some unsuspecting country whose regime is in need of being toppled.

& if that country is CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE you can start to see how my metaphor is apt:

http://www.h-ngm-n.com/cur_ent-i_sue

Please note that we are currently open to submissions until November 30th & be sure to check out the updated info on H_NGM_N Books:

http://www.h-ngm-n.com/h_ngm_n-books/

Plug!

2009-10-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

Got Matthew Thorburn's new chapbook, Disappears in the Rain, in the mail a couple days ago, and it's a beaut. The book itself is one long poem, kind of a meditation on meditations, with this subtle narrative chord that hums through it with this voice that balances between an American idiom and eastern quietness. I'm not sure if that made any sense to you, but if you read the book, wonderful things will happen to you, I promise. It's an intricate collage of the natural and modern and simulation. There's too much good stuff to pick from here for a sample (but I did, anyway, for you). And, like the conveyor belt in the passage below, this book just continually brings beautiful sustenance to its lucky readers. You can get a copy over at Matt's blog, which you should do as soon as possible.

peering into her compact
a geisha checks her make-up
on the subway

lobster sashimi gleams silver-white
plucked up in Lily's chopsticks

the kimono'd tea server pauses
mid-pour
to tell a secret

down one hill and up another
that's my life

the sushi chef loads
more red and yellow plates
onto his conveyor belt

--Matthew Thorburn, Disappears in the Rain

Coming Soon...

2009-10-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that my second book, RUNOFF, will be published sometime in the Winter by BlazeVOX Books. The book itself is four long poems, one for each season, each collectively marking the passing of one year. In the meantime, to whet your appetite, here's the cover:

Yesterday in Brooklyn

2009-10-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

I dug these poems by Phil Levine at Poetry Daily earlier this week, and thought you might want to check them out. As of fan of Levine's older stuff, I'm really excited to see him writing about life as it looks to him today (versus way back when in Detroit). Good stuff.

'Cept

2009-09-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

Just got the new issue of Harpur Palate in the mail. It's got an awesome mix of long poems and short prose pieces. I challenge yr genre to a duel, etc. Serious good stuff.

You can get a copy, or, better yet, subscribe here.

Summer: That's all, folks.

Fall: I'm on my way.

Abner

2009-08-28T07:44:00.001-07:00

There's a new issue of Diode out, and it's a barn burner. Tons of good poets and good poems. So what are you still doing here? Go check it out:

http://www.diodepoetry.com/v3n1/index.html

YES / NOÖ!

2009-08-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

Just got word from Mike Young that NOÖ #10 is live and kicking online, and available for your immediate reading pleasure. Check it out--I've got a poem in there with some great company, including Ron Padgett, Amy King, and Jason Bredle. Pop some corn and sit down with this thing. Spread the word.

Karaoke Night

2009-08-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hey,

In case you didn't know, H_NGM_N is now blogging. It's awesome, and it's every couple days, from the editors, like Nate Pritts, and from outside guests, like Matt Hart, Tony Hoagland, and others.

I'm up today, making some random and general points about karoaoke and poetry. Check it out, and check out the other posts, too. Come back to it. Make a friend.

Holla for the Man

2009-07-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

From Nate:

Like, it's night time & there are these two guys & they're all like, I'm gonna break into this BANK, yo. To steal the MON-ey. And the other guy is like, yo, what about the H_NGM_N? Like for realz? And the first guy is like what - that tired old washed up old guy? Like no one has even SEEN him for like YEARS or something. Guys probably dead.

http://www.h-ngm-n.com

And the second guy is like yo. And so it was that there were guys straight up robbing banks all over the city & when I say bank I mean JOURNALS PUBLISHING BAD POETRY & then there's like this quick cut, right, where you see like SOMEthing on a balcony or some junk, like high up like looking down all bad@$$ & then these two guys are like about the break into the bank still? By which I mean BAD POETRY RUNNING RAMPANT all up in the grill of the fair city? And what?

http://www.h-ngm-n.com

So that's it man. It's like yo - H_NGM_N #8. SWOOP. And like everyone thought he was dead & yo & like that was it? But he's here & cleaning house & by house I mean THE LANDSCAPE OF CONTEMPORARY POETRY & by cleaning I mean like straight up cleaning.
So it's like not only for you but for the city & banks & POETRY & also for yourself that you must needs click yon link & spread the word that, like, if you were afraid to go out at night? Or read poetry? There is no more reason to fear ever now:

http://www.h-ngm-n.com

yrs ever & always -
n8 & crew

PS follow the 'M_N on Twitter for updates --> http://twitter.com/TW_TT_R

Bottle-Rocket

2009-07-02T06:26:00.001-07:00

Been reading through and enjoying the new issues of Willow Springs and The American Poetry Review. They're fantastic, and I've got some poems in them. You should buy copies of both. They're perfect for the summer. Like getting a good deal on a gas grill.

Happy 4th. Eat some hot dogs, spill some ice cream. Blow up the sky with a thousand small and screaming fireworks.

Yr My Blue Skies

2009-04-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Tusculum Review has a new issue coming out, a hot one. To celebrate it, they're having a reading this Thursday, April 30th. I'll be reading with Brent House, so if you're anywhere around, come out. Make small talk. Listen to some poetry. Buy an issue, and one for your friends, too. Here's the link with more details:

http://www2.tusculum.edu/tusculumreview/2009/03/30/poets-to-read-at-ttr-launch-party/

See you there.

Don't Forget...

2009-04-21T04:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend:

The Slash Pine Poetry Festival.

If you live in or around Tuscaloosa, AL, or know how to get in or around Tuscaloosa, AL, you should come out for this thing, April 24th & 25th. Click on the link. Check it out. Spread the word.

Tone Poem

2009-04-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

I was looking for this poem online the other day for a class I'm teaching, and couldn't find it anywhere, so, here it is, because I thought you should know about it:

Tone Poem

(For Elvin Jones and Bob Thompson)

A host of loves is the city, and its memory
dead sense traveling (from England) on the sea
for two hundred years. The travelers show up in Japan
to promote peace and prosperity, perhaps a piece
of that nation's ass. Years later, years later,
plays rework the rime of lust. As history, and a cloud
their faces bang invisible notes, wind scribbled leaves
and foam. An eagle hangs above them spinning. Years and travelers
linger among the dead, no reports, gunshots white puffs
deciding the season and the mode of compromise. The general good
has no troops or armor, subtly the books stand closed, except
sad facts circled for unknown hippies carrying the mail.
I leave it there, for them, full of hurt, and hope. All the poems
are full of it. Shit and hope, and history. Read this line
young colored or white and know I felt the twist of dividing
memory. Blood spoiled in the air, caked and anonymous. Arms opening,
opened last night, we sat up howling and kissing. Men who loved
each other. Will that be understood? That we could, and still
move under cold nights with clenched fists. Swing these losers
by the tail. Got drunk then high, then sick, then quiet. But thinking
(and of you lovely shorties sit in libraries seeking such ideas out).
I'm here now, LeRoi, who tried to say something long for you. Keep it.
Forget me, or what I say, but not the tone, and exit image. No points,
or theories, from now on, just me and mine, when they get me, just
think of me as typing with a drink at my right hand, some women who
love me . . . and the day growning old and sloppy through the window.

--Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones, from Transbluesency

Now Hear This:

2009-04-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

I've got a couple readings coming up at a couple very cool events, so if you're anywhere in the surrounding area, come out and say hi.

First, is the Slash Pine Poetry Festival, April 24th and 25th, all over Tuscaloosa, AL. Joseph P. Wood is putting this thing on, and it looks to be a beaut. Just check out the lineup, which features a ton of good folk, including friends Nate Pritts and Matt Hart, and the woman, Jan LaPerle. If you live anywhere near this thing, it should be a really good time. Come out.

Second, is The Tusculum Review launch party, featuring me and Brent House, April 30th, 7p.m. Editor-extroidanaire Wayne Thomas is putting this one on, and you should know some very good things are happening in Tusculum. Come out and get a copy of the new issue, see us read, shake some hands--it's not that far.

Pack Yr Bags

2009-03-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

Be sure and check out the new issue of Sixth Finch. It's a hot one. Tell your mama. Tell your pa. It'll send you back to Arkansas.

Also, the 2008 Best of the Net Anthology is up and at 'em. Check it out. Spread the word. Say bye now.

PANK You

2009-03-01T05:44:00.000-08:00

Got the new issue of PANK in the mail the other day, and I've been working my way through it. It's a beautiful issue, and you should get yourself a copy.

Also, I heard the good news from Erin Elizabeth Smith that my poem "Poem in Which I Sort of Breakdown," first published in No Tell Motel, will be included in the 2008 Best of the Net Anthology. The Best of the Net is a much-needed project, and it's all free and online, so head over there and check the other years out.

Superfecta at CutBank

2009-02-21T06:22:00.000-08:00

Josh Robbins has written a kind, elegant, sharp review of Superfecta over at CutBank Reviews. Here's the first paragraph to get you warmed up:

"Every so often one comes across a first book of poems that radically shirks off the normative first book formula which says, “This profound stuff happened to me and I’m going to tell you what it means.” More often than not, the product of the first book equation is a poetry that meets our expectations (however low they may be), but fails to address the urgency of our times. Thankfully we have Clay Matthews’s first full-length collection, Superfecta, to prod and admonish us, to remind us that poetry can have something to say in the face of American vulnerability, mortality, late capitalism, ubiquitous pop-culture clutter, and urban sprawl. And for readers willing to risk betting even just a little time and effort, the payoff they receive will far exceed their meager investment."

Now please go and read the rest of it here, and thank you, thank you, Josh.

Teaching Emerson Teaching Me

2009-02-16T13:05:00.000-08:00

"Doubt not, O poet, but persist. Say, 'It is in me, and shall out.' Stand there, baulked and dumb, stuttering and stammering, hissed and hooted, stand and strive, until, at last, rage draw out of thee that dream-power which every night shows thee is thine own; a power transcending all limit and privacy, and by virtue of which a man is the conductor of the whole river of electricity."

--from "The Poet"

Group Hug

2009-01-21T03:30:00.000-08:00

Big, wonderful, sloppy thanks to the people at Verse Daily for posting my poem "Getaway" from the latest issue of The Journal today.

An American is a complex of occasions

2009-01-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

You Do Not Do

2009-01-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

Back in Tennessee, and gearing up for another semester. Gearing up for spring. Spent New Year's Eve in Memphis with Amy LaVere and the North Mississippi Allstars. The latter you probably already know. The former you should. You should also know this shoe:

Happy 2009. And may it be a good one for you and yours.

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

2008-12-23T06:34:00.000-08:00

Off to Missouri and Memphis for the holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy Holidays. Chalk up one more year.

Tonight...

2008-12-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

Poetry Open Mic--
"Use your words . . ."

Thursday, December 11, 8-10 pm

Acoustic Coffeehouse ("Next Door")
415 W. Walnut Street
Johnson City, Tennessee

- Open sign-up sheet: novices and seasoned wordsmiths alike are welcome to perform!
- 2 rounds of about 50 minutes each, w/ one intermission.
- 8-minute time limit for each performer, per round.
- Must be *original material.

sponsored by the ETSU English Department
contact: odonnell@etsu.edu

Stupid Low Prices!

2008-12-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Looking for a deal? Have I got one for you. Superfecta is now selling for only $8.37 at Ghost Road Press. That's cheaper than your lunch, depending on what your lunch was. And a book is like fifty lunches, at least. Get yourself a copy. Spread the holiday cheer. Support the economy. Etc., etc.

Gobble It Up...

2008-11-25T09:45:00.000-08:00

Go and check out the new issue of Boxcar Poetry Review. My girl (Jan LaPerle) has a good one in there.

And Happy Thanksgiving, too. Eat turkey.

Dig

2008-11-11T07:41:00.001-08:00

Once in a sycamore...

2008-11-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

Be sure and climb over to the new and second issue of Fou. Lots of good stuff, and another great-looking issue.

Schematics of a Costume

2008-10-30T09:50:00.001-07:00

And also, folks, just in time for Halloween (though I'm a little late to it): the new issue of DIAGRAM.

Some great poetry in there, as always, and a really lovely review of Superfecta by Amanda Maule (and, thank you, Amanda, wherever you are out there).

Booo.

Spooky Little

2008-10-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, people.

The leaves are really taking off now, the fall wind, and I think of Shelley:

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe,
Like wither'd leaves, to quicken a new birth;
And, by the incantation of this verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguish'd hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawaken'd earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Shelley, Keats, you can see I'm teaching British Literature this semester. O Romantic! O Autumn! O Children of the sweet teeth and ghosts and fangs and fur.

Trick or treat.

Kit-Kat

2008-10-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

Slowly, slowly, the house takes shape. The bathroom is remodelled. The floors refinished. Hopefully by next week things will begin to feel settled.

Fall break at ETSU, and I'm ready for a day off. Give us a holler.

Truffle Shuffle

2008-09-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Moving around this weekend, so it'll be quiet here for a bit. In the meantime, check out the new issues of past simple and TYPO.

Happy trails until then.

Thou Hast Thy Music Too,--

2008-09-19T03:45:00.000-07:00

Fall begins to set on in East Tennessee. One leaf turned bright orange, the sound of train whistles against the mountains, the apple and pear trees sagging. It's lovely here, and I'm thinking of Keats:

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

In other news, my dear, dear friend Nate Pritts has a new book out, Honorary Astronaut, with my own dear press, Ghost Road. Buy one. Make Christmas easy on yourself this year and buy a whole bundle. Spread the word. Tell the kids. Tell the whole extended family.

Superfecta & Hard Reds

2008-09-16T14:42:00.001-07:00

With the move to Tennessee comes the move to Blogger. Hi there.

In the news, Brandi Homan has given Superfecta a really lovely review at Gently Read Literature. Please go take a look.

Speaking of Brandi, her first book, Hard Reds, was recently released. You should get yourself a copy. You should get one right now.