MATTER, a press & journal

Click here for the Matter Press Winter 2013 special offer: all five Matter Press titles shipped anywhere in the US Priority Mail for $10 + $5 shipping.

In 1263, matter referred to a maker of mats.  Consider this our welcome mat:

fortune cookies marbles broken drumstick tips skittles buttons figurines pebbles baby tomatoes bunnies temper tantrums stars we see bottled water punctuation hiccups small dogs stationary bikes smart phones smart children doormats dumbbells donut holes greeting cards vampire bats donating blood nicknames stubbed toes raised eyebrows toothbrush paste purell white hairs ukuleles teaspoons hot tubs miniature milky ways ritual sacrifice shivers travel shampoo christmas trees bonsai trees bullets welcome wiffle balls carpools pills espresso coca-cola tic-tacs second-hands wristwatches accidents dams lullabies street signs potholes handguns archeological finds common sense character flaws nail clippers ice cream dippers surround sound cereal somersaults symbolism claustrophobia lighters other people problems channel flickers popcorn kernels truth carbonation characterization stores convenience fireplaces ping pong balls wrapping paper packing peanuts boxes jingles clown cars tic-tac-toe toy poodle umbrellas signatures bugbites quotation model trains portraits tea cups replicas whiskey bottles               

Matter Press obsesses over compression as a contemporary creative form, and we are much more interested in how compression matters to you than how it matters to us.  Out of a dense singularity that contained the entire universe: matter!  That’s what we are looking for, these particular moments of compression, out of which expand the universal. Or something like that.

To that end, we’ve created a journal that publishes weekly compressions & decompressions, a press that sponsors a chapbook competition, and two blogs, one here and the other at FlashFiction.Net. Tiny things will also appear here & there in the margins. We like to think of compression not as a gimmick or a temporary notion of the times. We like to think of the tiniest things mattering in astounding and lasting ways. We look forward to being wowed by what you bring to the world of compression, of the largeness that expands beyond its confines, astounding us for eons to come.


  • Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons

    The darker side of etiquette.
    by Tara Laskowski
    Shipping now!
    $10 + shipping
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  • Girl Years

    by Karen Dietrich
    A collection of creative nonfiction flash.
    $5.00 + shipping
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  • Index of Placebo Effects

    by Carol Guess
    A collection of flash fiction.
    $6.95 + shipping.
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    • Matter Press has published the following writers/artists:

    Danielle Abramsohn • Sheri Allen • Steve Almond • Maureen Alsop • Sara Backer • Sybil Baker • Wendy Barker • Eleanor Bennett • Aaron Burch • Jesse Cheng • Elaine Chiew • Kim Chinquee • Elizabeth Colen • Myfanwy Collins • Sue Ann Connaughton • Emily Conner • Christina Cook • Lydia Copeland • Nanette Crane-Post • Katya Cummins • Nicelle Davis • Jeanine Deibel • Josh Denslow • Karen Dietrich • Brian Duke • David Ebenbach • Theresa Senato Edwards • Nicole Elizabeth • Sarah Rose Etter • Jeff Fearnside • Kathy Fish • Sherrie Flick • Larry Fondation • Stefanie Freele • Abby Frucht • Elisa Gabbert • Avital Gad-Cykman • Scott Garson • Molly Gaudry • Roxane Gay • Peter Grandbois • Ncholas Grider • Carol Guess • Kyle Hemmings •Tiff Holland • Jamie Iredell • Beverly Jackson • Hall Jameson • Len Joy • Joe Kapitan • Kirsten Kaschock • Christopher Kennedy • Michael Kimball • J.I. Kleinberg • Cody Klippenstein • Laura Kochman • Minter Krotzer • Len Kuntz • Rich Larson • Tara Laskowski • Sueyen Juliette Lee • Nate Liederbach • Kate Light • Sara Lippmann • Cynthia Litz • Nathan Long • Sean Lovelace • David Luntz • Ravi Mangla • Helen Mallon • Michael Martone • Tara Masih • Mary McCluskey • Ross McMeekin • Mary Meriam •  Mary Miller • Ariana Nadia Nash • Darlin’ Neal • Stefanie Nellen • Bill Neumire • Takamichi Okubo • Pamela Painter • Lori Powell • Chad Prevost • Stephen Ramey • Bruce Holland Rogers • Ethel Rohan • Nicholas Rombes • Daniel Romo • Kathleen Rooney • Jim Ruland • Thaddeus Rutkowski • Jenny Sadre-Orafai • Sarah Sarai • Peter Schwartz • Betsy Seymour • Sagirah Shahid • Greg Shemkovitz • Mark Simpson • Hal Sirowitz • Robin Slick • Curtis Smith • Amber Sparks • Victor Stabin • Janice Wilson Stridick • Robert Swartwood • Art Taylor • Aaron Teel • Christina Thatcher • Dean Marshall Tuck • Nance Van Winckel • Ania Vesenny • Kathleen Volk Miller • Ray Vukcevich • Daniel Wallace • Lin Wang • Brandi Wells • Quinn White • Louisa Wolf • Lee Wright • Jane Yolen • Joseph Young • Shellie Zacharia