Author: mtmason@gmail.com

Day 2, Gordon: the Nebraska Poetry Pen Pal Program Proceeds

After a day like we had in Valentine, everything after just has to be a disappointment, right?

Wrong.

We rolled up at Gordon-Rushville High School not sure what to expect. joe found himself captivated by a metal sculpture of a horse’s head by the main entrance, the principal turns out to be someone I’ve worked with before, and we found my friend Tracy Baker’s senior photo on display with the class of ’92. Okay, good start.

And all three of us had a blast. It was another group of fun students with smart questions, dedicated teachers, and we enjoyed talking in classes and at an all-school assembly. We even found out the sculpture we’d admired wasn’t made by some famous graduate (as I’d thought) but by some of the students we were talking with!

Students directed us to the Fuel Grill for dinner and it was the right move. They have creatively-named sandwiches (I had the Geo Metro, it was delightful) which didn’t disappoint. Then we had time before our Gordon Theater reading and so stopped by the library. On this tour, I’m donating a pair of Nebraska poetry anthologies to the schools and libraries, so we handed them copies of Watching The Perseids and Nebraska Poetry: A Sesquicentennial Anthology. After that, we also went to Harvest Coffeehouse (Caffeine!), and Joe’s Games for some Asteroids, Defender, pinball, and more.

The Gordon Theater is a great space, fairly recently renovated, for a poetry reading and the students and community came out with a good crowd. It made for a fun, interactive reading, and there were even encore poems requested. Afterward, we talked with a group of students about what it takes to run their own open mic, and we helped connect them with the Theater’s owner and a board member who was there. So, Gordon, we look forward to returning and reading at your open mic!

I was touched, too, as one of the students ran outside and came back to present me with a bundle of sage. It’s an honor to work with these students and spend some time talking about poetry.

Poetry is more than a lesson plan, it’s something special where we get to say who we are, figure out little bits of this world, and listen to others do the same. I feel lucky to get to do this, especially with artists like Zedeka and joe.

The Nebraska Poetry Pen Pal Program is Off to a Great Start in Valentine!

Valentine, you waterfall city, you beauty on the Niobrara, you poet-feeding wonder!

I rolled into Valentine with poets Zedeka Poindexter and joe fromLongIsland for the first stop of the Nebraska Poetry Pen Pal Program this past Monday. We spent the day at Valentine High School, meeting with some pretty wonderful students and teachers, reading poetry, answering questions, geeking out about some poetry at a full school assembly and then several different classes through the day.

We had a break which included lunch at the Coach Light Inn and a waterfall visit, both of which were stunning. The coach light had one of the best burgers I’ve ever had (Cream cheese, pepper jelly and bacon on it? Why, yes, that sounds delightful), what has to be the finest pie in the region (peanut butter pie? Sour cream and raisin? Lemon Meringue? Don’t mind if we do… ), and then the hike down to Fort Falls just outside of town was just what I needed after such a lunch.

In the evening, we had another great meal at the Peppermill and a reading at the Valentine Public Library, a place I think joe wants to move into for the fireplace and the conversations with some of the best librarians around.

We had a warm reception at the school and the reading, we really felt honored by how well Valentine treated us and how the students engaged us in really wonderful conversations. Even a stop at the Dollar Tree proved magical as, when the clerk asked what we were in town for and we answered “Poetry,” he lit up and ended up playing me a recording of a song he wrote with lyrics that knocked me out and talent on the guitar and drums.*

Valentine, thank you. We all want you to adopt us.

Thank you, Academy of American Poets and the Mellon Foundation, Humanities Nebraska, Valentine Public Library (especially you, Anne Quigley), and Valentine High School for making this possible. Thank you, too, Niobrara Lodge, you treated us well!

*=Bonus Track: The musician I talked to at the Dollar Tree said to look for him at Apple Music. When I did, I found this (it’s not the song he played me but you still get the sense): https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kid-on-the-hill/1649809336

The Nebraska Poetry Pen Pal Program Kicks Off Nov 7-9!

As part of my 2022 Laureate Fellowship, I’ll be touring the Nebraska Panhandle with poets Zedeka Poindexter and Joe fromLongIsland next week, with stops in Valentine, Gordon, and Chadron. This program will visit high schools during the day and then host public events in the evenings, encouraging a dialogue through poetry.

Public events include:

  • Nov 7, 7pm show at the Valentine Public Library (324 N Main St)
  • Nov 8, 7pm show at the Gordon Theater (320 N Main St)         

All events take place with help from the Academy of American Poets and Humanities Nebraska.

Book Signing at Disneyana in Southern California

It was fun to finally meet my publisher in person at the Disneyana Show and Sale last weekend in Orange, CA. On top of meeting Dave Bossert, I also got to sit with author and historian Don Ballard as we signed books and chatted with folks dropping by The Old Mill Press table.

2022 Poet Laureate Fellows

Academy of American Poets 2022 Poet Laureate Fellowship Announcement!

I’m thrilled to announce I was named by The Academy of American Poets as a 2022 Poet Laureate Fellow (along with an incredibly talented list of other poets). It makes a big difference for my work and lets me really dive into what I want to do with this next year!

Thank you, Humanities Nebraska, Nebraska Arts Council, and Nebraska Library Commission for your help with my application and for all your support of me and the things I love in Nebraska.

Most of all, thank you Sarah for your help, your belief, and your patience: I love you.

A Couple More Summer Readings

I’ll be reading from the new book at the Rapid City, SD Public Library (610 Quincy St) on July 26th at 5:15 (Mountain Time). Come out!

I’ll also be at the Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet on July 30th in Lynnwood, WA. The event is sold out, but if you have tickets, stop by my table and say “Hi.”

And if you’re somewhere else hoping for a reading, let me know, I love the road and love seeing different parts of the country.

Matt Mason, Nebraska State Poet

Nebraska Has a New State Poet!

I’m excited to announce I’ve been selected as the new Nebraska State Poet.

The most profound honor for me is knowing Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Library Commission as well as a board of people I greatly admire as voices for literacy and creativity in the state chose me as State Poet.

Though I wasn’t able to make the announcement until this evening, the selection was made official earlier in the week, and I’m proud to say that my first day as official State Poet had me hosting Albuquerque Poet Laureate Manuel González and his daughter, Sarita Sol González, who was named by Juan Felipe Herrera as “Youth Poet Laureate.” We spent yesterday at Lincoln High School and Hastings College, where Manuel and Sarita brought their poems and their vibrant presence to great audiences. (Thanks, also, to the anonymous stranger who stopped to help me change a flat tire along the interstate so I could get Manuel and Sarita safely to Hastings!)

Since moving back to my home state in 1995, it’s been my goal to create opportunities which weren’t here for writers when I was coming up. I started PoetryMenu.Com in 2000, the OM Center Poetry Slam in 2002, open mics, Morpo Press (which published chapbooks by local poets), festivals like the Great Plains Poetry Pile Up, reading series which paired experienced poets with young writers, and my work with the Nebraska Writers Collective and the Louder Than a Bomb: Great Plains Youth Poetry Festival. Through my work as State Poet, I plan to continue and expand this mission over the next five years in communities around the state.

Yes, there will be a party. Yes, there will be cake.

Thank you, Twyla M. Hansen (Nebraska State Poet 2013-2018); thank you, Sarah McKinstry-Brown; thanks Sophia and Lucia, I am grateful for your support.

Poetry Out Loud

I have a poem on the Poetry Out Loud list!

I’ve worked as a teaching artist for Nebraska’s Poetry Out Loud for the past 11 years. In Poetry Out Loud, students around the country memorize poems from a list, anything from a centuries-old sonnet by Shakespeare to a Naomi Shihab Nye poem written in the past few years. I love coaching students on how to choose the poem that’s right for them and finding their own way to recite it, and I’ve certainly dreamed about having one of my own poems on the list. Today, a student from San Luis Obispo High School emailed me with questions for a school assignment as he said he was working on my poem “The Story of Ferdinand the Bull” for POL. Which I didn’t know was on the list. So, well, my day has improved significantly. And it wasn’t half bad to start with.