Matthew Hittinger's Blog, page 24

Read Write Poem Celebrity Poet

I've provided the "Celebrity Poet" prompt for the month of October over at Read Write Poem.  It's called "The Poetics of the Mash-Up" and uses two of my unpublished poems "Skin Game" and "The Alchemists Dissolve and Coagulate" to illustrate the concept.

Go check it out!

Some Notes On Charlie Jensen's The First Risk

I've read some great new books in recent weeks and wanted to highlight some of them.  This post is dedicated to Charlie Jenson's first full-length collection, The First Risk:

[image error]

The first thing that struck me about the collection is how unified it is, both within each sequence and across each sequence.  The thematic arcs have a lot to do with this, the most obvious perhaps grief, being the survivor, the one left behind after a loved one dies.  We get an exploration of grief from four very...

Pushcart Nomination

Justin Evans at Hobble Creek Review has nominated my poem "In the Shadow City…" for a Pushcart Prize.

Thanks Justin!

New Review of Platos de Sal by Timothy Wright

Timothy Wright has reviewed Platos de Sal over at his blog.

Here's a preview:

Hittinger's beautifully clear style of writing suits the way in which the story of David/Juan and Mara/Rut unfolds in a bright but uncertain present full of longing, interspersed with the unclouded memories of the long-ago and more recent past.

Platos de Sal is a beautiful piece. It was a pleasure to read over and again, each time Hittinger's writing revealing more subtleties, more depth.

Click here to read the whole...

A New Portrait by Didi

Didi Menendez has finished a new portrait of me:

[image error]

oil and acrylic on museum wrap canvas 30 by 40 inches

Thanks Didi!

And here's a video she made:

Aftermath

I had the opportunity and pleasure to see a new show Friday night at the New York Theatre Workshop. It's called Aftermath and is written by Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen who took interviews they conducted in June 2008 with Iraqi refugees in Jordan and crafted them into a show that interweaves the stories of average Iraqi citizens before, during and after the US invasion in March 2003.

Everyone should see this show. I fear few will muster the courage given the heavy subject matter and the fact ...

New poem in the Self-Portrait Issue of Oranges & Sardines

A new poem "Sketch and Pentimento" from my Skin Shift project is included in the Self-Portrait issue of the September 2009 Oranges & Sardines.  The issue is packed with lots of great poets: Bob Hicok, Billy Collins, Grace Cavalieri, Andrew Demcak, Denise Duhamel, David Lehman, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, Paul Siegell, Emma Trelles, Nanette Rayman Rivera to start the list.  Not to mention the great paintings and photographs from the visual artists: Fábio Baroli, Alyssa Monks, Jon Damaschke, April...

Three Poems in Issue 5 of Ganymede

I have three poems in the new issue (#5) of Ganymede: "La Ley del Deseo," "Wrestlers Finished," and "Orange Colored Sky."  Click here to order a copy and you can see a sample page of where my section begins here.

"Orange Colored Sky" is my homage to Wonder Woman and was the poem turned into a limited edition broadside back in June for the Center Broadsides Reading Series; it is part of my Skin Shift manuscript.

"La Ley del Deseo" and "Wrestlers Finished" are both included in The Erotic...

Social Networking

If you're interested in following my updates or connecting with me on some of  the social networking sites, here are the links:

Facebook Fanpage

GoodReads

Twitter

Also, if you haven't done so already, please update your bookmarks and links with the new address for my blog: http://matthewhittinger.com/m/

Reading at the inSPIREd Launch Party

I'll be reading at the inSPIREd launch party Thursday, September 10th, 7:00pm at the Nightingale Lounge here in NYC.  The party will celebrate the release of the new chapbook series from Spire, the inSPIREd Poetry Series, and will feature readings by some of their new authors including JoAnn Balingit, Alice Pettway and more TBA.