News

October’s Event Schedule and September Recap

I have a new monthly email you can subscribe to where I get out news and event information for the events I’ll be part of. Sign up now at: http://eepurl.com/ivdcRI

And, holy cow, September has been outstanding. Trying to make a living as a poet isn’t easy but has been profoundly rewarding in the people I’m meeting and the experiences I’m invited to be part of. September has been a whirlwind, with trips from northern Nebraska to Marceline, MO to the Nebraska panhandle to the Black Hills and back.

Work like this takes a lot of support and belief from others, so I’m grateful for Newman Grove Public Schools, Humanities Nebraska, the Hartington and Niobrara Public Libraries, Mount Marty University, the National Association of State Arts Agencies, Pierce Public Schools, the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, Alliance Public Schools, Arthur County Schools, the Nebraska Arts Council, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Mullen Public Schools, the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center, the Mullen Arts Center, the Nebraska Poetry Society, and the South Dakota Humanities Council for making these kinds of events happen. (And: thank you, Sarah!)

And here’s what’s coming for October, with trips to Central Nebraska, Kansas City, and more:

October 1: 1-4pm, Start the month at Raymond Central High School (In the Mustang Room,1800 W. Agnew Rd, Raymond NE). It’s free and open to the public, with a reading, Q&A, and a writing workshop: https://www.facebook.com/events/328116633043900/

October 6: 5-8pm, Legal Aid of Nebraska commissioned me to write a poem for their 60th Anniversary Celebration. I’ll read it at that event, find information and tickets here: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/e/oHRhoQ

October 7, 14, 21, and 28: 1-2:15pm, I teach a writing workshop online through the Larksong Writers Place. It costs $125 and will give everyone the opportunity to talk writing and have your work gone over be me and everyone in the class: https://larksongwritersplace.org/

October 8: 1-2:30pm, I’ll be teaching a free writing workshop with the Castle & Cathedral District and Metropolitan Community College’s are 14th annual Art & Literary Festival. This event is at Cali Commons (518 N 40th St, Omaha) and registration is required as space is limited: https://joslyncastle.com/events/special-events/art-and-literary-festival-2023.html

October 10: 6pm, I read in Central Nebraska at Anthem Coffee (39295 NE-2, Thedford NE)

October 11: I read at Scratchtown Brewing Company (141 South 16th, Ord NE): https://www.facebook.com/events/616126060641775/

October 13: 7pm, I’ll see YOU, Northeast Nebraska, with a reading at the Lynch Public Library (423 Hoffman St, Lynch NE)

October 14: 6-7pm, I’ll be reading with Michelle Troxclair and Devel Crisp as part of the Castle & Cathedral District and Metropolitan Community College’s are 14th annual Art & Literary Festival at the Joslyn Castle (3902 Davenport St, Omaha). It’s free! https://joslyncastle.com/events/special-events/art-and-literary-festival-2023.html

October 19 and 22: 6-7pm, I’m giving a talk on “The 1920s, How It Ruined Poetry For The Rest Of Us” for the Castle & Cathedral District and Metropolitan Community College’s are 14th annual Art & Literary Festival at the Joslyn Castle (3902 Davenport St, Omaha). Come on down for this free event: https://joslyncastle.com/events/special-events/art-and-literary-festival-2023.html

October 20: 7pm, tell your KC friends! I head down to Kansas City to read in The Writers Place Reading Series featuring Alarie Tennille, Wayne Courtois, and me at The Writers Place at Nonprofit Village, 31 W 31st ST, Kansas City MO: https://thewritersplace.wildapricot.org/

October 21: And I stick around in KC for Pageturner, a great fundraiser for The New Territory magazine at The Hayloft at Lifted Spirits Distillery (1734 Cherry St, East Crossroads, Kansas City MO). It runs 4-8pm, tickets are $80-$110 at: https://newterritorymag.com/events/pageturner2023/

October 27: I’m working on an event in Lincoln, details coming soon here and on my State Poet Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NeSP3

I’m Having A Stellar Week

Announcements went out for the Dreaming Tree Gala at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline on September 16th. It’s an event featuring a number of Disney dignitaries and I get to read a poem before a dinner curated by author Marcy Carriker Smothers and a talk by animator and Disney Legend Floyd Norman. It’s a thrill to get to read from At the Corner of Fantasy and Main to a group like this. See details about the event at: https://www.waltdisneymuseum.org/events

Also, today my poem “The Issue of Rattle” was the poem featured on Rattle’s website. This issue is my first time being published in Rattle after submitting for, oh, decades… It includes an audio version with me reading at: https://www.rattle.com/the-issue-of-rattle-by-matt-mason/

And the August 10th (my birthday!) edition of Bangladesh’s Daily Sangbad newspaper’s literature page includes a photo of me and Bimal Guha from a reading in Lincoln a few weeks ago. It was an honor to read with Bimal, a writer with over 20 books published and numerous awards in Bangladesh.

In Conversation With U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón at the NCE’s 25th Anniversary

I had the pleasure of leading an on-stage conversation with Ada Limón and Nebraska Poetry Out Loud champion Amelia Escalante. This was all part of celebrating the Nebraska Cultural Endowment’s 25th anniversary! (Photos by Ben Semisch).

The Nebraska Cultural Endowment does a great deal to help Artists and audiences in Nebraska. They are the first and only cultural endowment in the nation to sustain both arts and humanities through privately-supported and publicly-matched funds.

At the Corner of Fantasy and Main is winning awards!

I’m thrilled to announce that At the Corner of Fantasy and Main: Disneyland, Midlife and Churros has won Silver (top 3) in the Independent Book Publishers Association awards this year! It’s an honor to be recognized in the Poetry category, and I’m more grateful than I could ever express to The Old Mill Press for believing in this collection.

The book ALSO won recognition being shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Book Awards (meaning it’s in the top 10% of entries, though did not win the top prize).

Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way!

I’m incredibly proud of this book and grateful to see this kind of recognition coming in for it.

New Article About Me in Milford Magazine

Read about my latest poetry exploits here in Milford Magazine, the whole issue is up at: https://milfordmagazine.com/milford-magazine-issue-4/

The 3rd Pen Pal Poets Tour is Back from Southern Nebraska

In a wild 3 days, the Nebraska Pen Pal Poets Program brought Colleen O’Doherty, Fernando Montejano and me to BDS Middle School in Davenport, Lawrence/Nelson schools, Fairbury HS/Junior High, and Thayer Central High School in Hebron while also doing readings at the Red Cloud Opera House and at the Blue Bison in Hebron.

It was a whirlwind trip which got great student response as we talked poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, science fiction and so much more.

Colleen, now in Chicago, is mainly doing playwriting but kept students entertained with poems like a love poem for chocolate, a persona poem from the point of view of the mother of a school shooter, and more. Fernando put on his rocket boots and riled up students (in a good way) with all sorts of poems about the bad things we do as kids, love for science fiction, and so many good things.

It was an honor to share the stage with them at the Red Cloud Opera House, thanks to the National Willa Cather Center. We also saw the windy landscapes of south-central Nebraska and got some great food recommendations from students (who always say “Runza” but also pointed us to places like RWs in Davenport).

I’m grateful to support from Humanities Nebraska, and everything made possible by the Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. The more programs like this that we can bring out to audiences in Nebraska, the better a place to live we’ll have.