My latest chapbook, The Mourners Forget Which Funeral They’re At, has just been released by Greying Ghost Press! The Mourners… is a long poem in sections, which was a new format for me. I wrote the majority of it while I was living in China in the wake of my divorce. It’s a weird book to revisit now as I’m in such a different emotional landscape, but I’m glad this dark, weird little animal has breath. You can purchase a copy here.
I have two new poems from The Party (a long poem I’ve been working on for a few years) up at The Rupture right now. Read the issue here.
A chapbook-length poem I have been working on, The Mourners Forget Which Funeral They’re At, was selected as a finalist for Tupelo Press’ Snowbound Chapbook Prize! While I didn’t win, I’m really happy to have gotten close and am in some really impressive company. You can check out the announcement here.
Kyle Marler of Flatsitter, an AV artist collective which specializes in virtual environments, was kind enough to solicit a poem from me for his P/P/E series in response to our current crisis. Please check it out! I’ll include the full text of the poem below:
Pandemic
The world has become
contagious with us.
The parade passing on Queen St.
paused, still. The confetti
now litter. Our president broadcasts
from his snowglobe to assert:
we will never run out of masks.
Poor pharaohs, we
wrap ourselves in toilet paper;
our servants wear surgical gloves
in this new afterlife
where everything’s remade
more imaginary
and more real.
My press, Black Lawrence, is offering 50% off all of their books! Including…cough…mine. But there are some many other great authors with books on this press, including fellow Midwesterner Ruth Williams‘ Flatlands. And, if you order now, I will honor my original book promotion from 2018. Purchase a copy, and post a picture of your favorite poem to Facebook, tag me, and I’ll happily post a video of me reading the poem for you!
Order your book here!
Matt McBride 