Matthew Hittinger's Blog

Head on over to Gently Read Literature where you can check out the November reviews.  I have a piece up on Laurie Sheck's multi-genre novel A Monster's Notes.

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Didi had a poet painting marathon last weekend and did a new portrait of me:

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Gregory Woods, author of the critical study Articulate Flesh: Male Homoeroticism and Modern Poetry (a well-worn copy of which sits by my desk) has reviewed the anthology Ganymede Poets, One for Chroma: A Queer Literary and Arts Journal.

Woods highlights some of our work:

So what impresses me here, before we even begin on the content, is the quality of the verse. Christopher Gaskins, for instance, impresses me not so much for what he says as by the way he says it in lean, sinewy, unsentimental...

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Stumbled upon this new review of Platos de Sal in the October-November edition at berniE-zine.

Here's a preview:

A finely-crafted story in verse that deftly explores the subtle ways in which we reveal ourselves to, or hide ourselves from, those we love.

Go check it out!

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And here we are, at the end of my trip already.  Five days was too short.  I must really take longer vacations.  That Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving and American Columbus Day and my last day in Montreal.  The city felt empty, especially when Michael took me up to the roof of his building so I could get some cityscape shots.

The mountain:

Far out in the distance there is the school where Michael teaches and commutes to each day:

This was pretty much the view a few floors down from Michael's...

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After that very romantic evening on Mount Royal, we spent Sunday morning lazing around and enjoying the view from Michael's apartment and balcony, eventually going out for some Indian brunch at Le Taj and then hitting up the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.  There was this huge John William Waterhouse exhibit going on with that damn Lady of Shalott painting plastered all over the place (which only makes me think of Elizabeth Bishop's wonderful poem "The Gentleman of Shalott").  I've never cared ...

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Saturday was slow going after being out so late, but we dragged ourselves out to meet up with Michael's friend Vani who we convinced to accompany us on a long walk that eventually took us through the Old Port.

But first, some sculpture.  Here is a sculpture of a hand on Michael's coffee table:

Michael had many opportunities to buy more hands that weekend, but he resisted.  I still think a hand collection would be creepy and fun.  And here is Michael posing with a sculpture of a woman and a...

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Friday I woke to rain and the news that Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Don't get me wrong, I like Obama, and I understand why they gave it to him not for what he's accomplished (other than not being Bush) but for what he wants to accomplish.  Still, it struck me as a bit odd, especially when so many unknown people do so much on a daily basis to help others and are never acknowledged.  But that's the funny thing: most of those people wouldn't want the recognition, would shy away from...

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I arrived at Penn Station early.  My travel anxiety seems to grow ever more intense the older I get, which continues to baffle me. Once I'm in motion, I'm fine, but that irrational fear of missing a bus or a train or a plane throws my stomach into chaos.  The one thing that seems to calm me is Dramamine which either knocks me out in minutes or makes me float along in a haze.  Too soon for that.

I found a ticket kiosk and scanned my print-out to pick up my tickets.  No reservation.  I used my c...

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Back in August I agreed to fill in for Project Verse weekly judge Dana Guthrie Martin to help judge the final round.  The judges–Dustin Brookshire, Beth Gylys, me and the two guest judges, Denise Duhamel and Shaindel Beers–evaluated the work of the finalists, Kathi Morrison-Taylor and Emily Van Duyne, and we now have a winner.

Click on their names to read their work and our comments, and then click on over to Dustin's site to read the announcement of the winner.

Thanks Dustin for allowing me...

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