Fevers of the Mind Poetry Showcase
As a few people are aware, one of the projects I'm currently working (yes, I said “one of…"“) is a collection of ekphrastic poems: I’m expanding Dust & Ashes into a full-length collection.
To that end, I've spent a good part of the summer visiting a bunch of art museums in three different states (so far) to balance the literary art responses with some visual art. Some fruits of that labor were published today in Fevers of the Mind. Here is the link to the poems:
Below are the links to the works they are based on (each opens in a new window).
MEH Updates: my new newsletter through Substack
For about a year people have been asking me about a newsletter. I keep saying, “yeah, I’ll get around to something.” Now I finally have.
MEH Updates will be a (mostly) monthly newsletter about recent and upcoming events, publications, generally musings, and the like.
Could you access the same information by constantly checking in and refreshing my website multiple times a month? Of course. But I’ve been told that a newsletter sent directly to one’s inbox is an easier system for people.
You can subscribe by entering your email in the form.
Solstice Literary Magazine Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize winner!
Well I can finally announce that my poem “the Banjo Player explains” was chosen by A Van Jordan as the Solstice Literary Magazine Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize winner!
The poem is an ekphrastic narrative based on Henry Ossawa Tanner’s painting The Banjo Lesson: the painting which was the cover art for my first collection, Teaching While Black.
It’s a joy to present the selections for the 2023 Stephen Dunn Prize for poetry. The winning poem is “the Banjo Player Explains,” by Matthew E. Henry, selected by our poetry judge for this issue, A. Van Jordan. He writes:
In one of the most assured ekphrastic poems I’ve read in some time, ‘the Banjo Player Explains,’ grants a wish I’ve had since I first saw this Tanner painting: ‘I wish I could hear this lesson played out.’ The poem goes beyond the canvas and the framing of the two figures by “striking a balance between two worlds,” indeed. There’s also the perspective of experiential knowledge of the boy as man, an old man, looking back on a moment he will never forget, yet not initially knowing the significance of it in the moment. There’s great wisdom and a life lesson here.
Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize finalist
the Colored page was named a finalist for The New England Poetry Club’s Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize (2023).
Origin Stories: on the beginnings of The Third Renunciation
After a reading in Minneapolis today, someone opened a copy of The Third Renunciation and asked about the dedication, which reads:
I was asked, “who was Chase to you?”
One of the first theological sonnets I wrote came out of processing his death. The sonnet, every draft, was terrible. Eventually, a decade later, I realized it was because some stories can't be told in 14 lines.
“Out of My Hands” was published by Zone 3 and is that story, and also is the beginnings of The Third Renunciation.
Roxbury Poetry Festival in the Boston Globe
Minneapolis Mini-Book Tour
I’m doing readings at three bookstores August 9-11th in Minneapolis
"Have you heard the one about...?" - New Mirco-chapbook Published!
The Third Renunciation has officially arrived!
My second full-length collection is now live. Click below to get the full rundown and grab a copy.
Mass Poetry Community Award (2023)
New micro-chapbook coming from Ghost City Press
I am happy to announce that my micro-chapbook have you heard the one about…? will be published this summer as part of Ghost City Press’s Summer Micro-chapbook Series!
More info to come…
The Third Renunciation COVER REVEAL!
My second full length collection, The Third Renunciation is dropping this spring from NYQ Books and the cover is now live!
The Lives of Writers Podcast: Matthew E. Henry
Listen to my interview at The Lives of Writes from Autofocus (in which I was previously published).
Second Sunday Reading Series Recording is Live
I had the privilege of reading with Shiksha Dheda and Julia Guez recently as a part of the Second Sunday Reading Series.
the Colored page reviewed in The Pedestal Magazine
I'm honored that an amazing review of the Colored page appears in Pedestal Magazine.
You can read it here.
Interview with My Bad Poetry Podcast
A podcast where I (painfully) discussed some of the very first poems I wrote in college. Heaven help us all.
You can read the poems discussed —"musing,” “she says it’s only in my head,” & “(at) fireworks on the 7th" — below.
As I mention in the podcast, there is a good chance that some people reading these are mentioned in the poems. Sorry about that.
the Colored page on the Kickstart Farmington blog
In his blog post “Art in the Roots, #6: Captains and Pilots,” Mitch Nobis reflects on how the political is always with us in all areas of life including, especially, education.
My poetry the Colored page is a part of those reflections.
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Pushcart Nomination from Pangyrus Literary Mag
I’m happy to announce that my poem "what i learned during Black history month" by billy, age 8 (or 18) was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Pangyrus . You can read it below.
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