An October (2023) Update from MEH

Oct 06, 2023

Ever late to the party, I’ve finally had Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones” enter my life. And what should have been a 10 min activity with one of my classes turned into a 40 min discussion/debate. There may have been tears at various points. Some of those tears may have been mine. So far it’s inspired a draft of a poem and a song I wrote for that same class. Some of my students have composed their own creative works in response as well.
If you are a teacher, parent, or random adult who knows high school aged creative writers, have them check out The Weight Journal, where we are publishing some great work by the future of this art form. Submissions for this season have just opened.
Poetry Collections I’ve Recently Read
- Muttology ~ Maurya Kerr

New Position

I am now an associate editor over at Rise Up Review! Submissions are open until November 1st.

My ekphrastic poem "Invisible Man (Two Views)” made the short list of Alan Squire Publishing’s Annual Poetry Contest
My first full-length collection, the Colored page, was a finalist for the Housatonic Book Awards.

"reason #3785291 that this might not work out" was published in Molecule.
“curriculum development” was published in The Worcester Review
Despite more rejections than I care to think about, in multiple genres, I have a new acceptance from River Heron Review.

Guest reading for the book launch of Maurya Kerr's Muttology
A private reading for a virtual poetry group (Yeah, this is something I do, if you have an interested group).
I also had readings with Boston Poetry Slam, Gloucester Writers Center, and the Open Doors Center for the Arts alongside some incredibly talented folks.

For October (so far…)

Copies of my most recent collections— The Third Renunciation (New York Quarterly Books, 2023) and "have you heard the one about…?” (Ghost City Press, 2023) are available, as are my others.
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Matthew E. Henry (MEH)'s Substack