Compression: Mary O’Malley
“As a child I fell in love with poets who used compression; Dickinson, Cummings, Pound, and Amy Lowell—all their lexicon exploded with streams of thought flowing from one word or short phrase. For me one of the joys of writing poetry is compression. My question is: How can I find the essence of a perfume from an Opera like narrative in several short lines or stanzas. I want my readers to carry the whiff of story in their minds and walk away with it forever. I also want to create an image or several quicksilver images readers may hold on to from the poem—a spark or ember which can either exist without the scent or linger together as a vivid dream lingers in the morning.” — Mary O’Malley
Compression: Nellie Hill
“Something builds up with days and days or weeks or years of brooding, thinking, musing and then whooshes out into a compressed version of all the particulars. Either it works or it doesn’t. When it works it’s like a window opening onto a sudden change of weather that leads one into insight, possibilities, regrets, puzzles with strings yet to be untied, or revelation and peace of mind.” — Nellie Hill
Compression: Mariah Blackhorse
“Compression is only the prelude to expansion. Limited to the essentials, concentrated words slip in and then explode on the tongue like the tiny red grouse-whortle berries I pick in late summer in the high country. It’s all about ‘essence,’ evoking a feeling that transports, not a logic problem to be solved.” — Mariah Blackhorse
Compression: Brandon Everett
“Compression: My words are as brisk and fleeting as the instants that bred them” — Brandon Everett
Compression: Beebe Barksdale-Bruner
“By definition a poem has all the needed words and no more, every one fitting precisely.” — Beebe Barksdale-Bruner
Compression: Ginny Taylor
“One way of thinking about compression is that it whittles a text down to the barest words so that only the essential ones remain. Yet, it contains everything.” — Ginny Taylor
Compression: Alex Grover
“Compression is suffocating the words out of your innocent work until it almost asphyxiates and curses you under its shallow breath: that bit of breath is what gives a story its bite.” — Alex Grover
Compression: Kim Frank Kirk
“Compression:
Is a paradox. On the page you see simply brevity and precision surrounded by white space. Behind the page is a cacophony of sound, subtext, syntax, double meanings, intention, deliberation, lives and layers. The result: A Willy Wonka candy delivering an expansive, rich experience with one small bite.” — Kim Frank Kirk
Compression: Thomas Webb
“I do not believe a limited word count is the only criterion that is important in compressed artwork. True art should leave a lasting impression regardless of size or length and I hope this poem has met that goal.” — Thomas Webb
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Upcoming:
03/23 • Kenneth Pobo
03/30 • Roberta Allen
04/06 • Avril Shakira Villar
04/13 • TBD
04/20 • TBD
04/27 • TBD
05/04 • TBD
05/11 • TBD
05/18 • TBD
05/25 • TBD
06/01 • TBD
06/08 • TBD
06/15 • TBD
06/22 • TBD
06/29 • TBD
07/06 • TBD
07/13 • TBD
07/20 • TBD
07/27 • TBD
08/03 • TBD
08/10 • TBD
08/17 • TBD
08/24 • TBD
08/31 • TBD
09/07 • TBD
09/14 • TBD
09/21 • TBD