Month: August 2013
The Shell
by Peter Cherches
Peter Cherches has been called “one of the innovators of the short short story” (Publishers Weekly). For over three decades his prose work has focused on the ultra-minimal, culminating in his most recent collection of short prose sequences, Lift Your Right Arm (Pelekinesis, 2013), which Luc Sante called “the equivalent of a whole shelf of books.”
Yours is one of our first triptychs. What did you think of the process/product? I’ve always been somewhat of a “conceptual” writer, though, unlike the writers of the current conceptual poetry movement, I see concept as a means rather than an end; ultimately, what matters most to me is the quality of my sentences. And my work has been informed by music and visual art as much as by literature. So when I saw the call for triptychs I immediately knew it was something that would be right up my alley. Much of my work is self-reflexive, and lately I’ve been playing around a lot with autobiographical material as well as fake autobiography. This form allowed me to indulge all these impulses. In the left column I became the character of author commenting on the work. In the right column I could add the equivalent of footnotes, some of which intersect with the “story” only by coincidence. So, then, is that “the piece” in the middle column, or are all three columns the piece? I love having made something that could lead me to me ask that question. And maybe this is the fourth column of a tetraptych. Individual entries on Richard Kostelanetz’s work in several fields appear in various editions of Readers Guide to Twentieth-Century Writers, Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature, Contemporary Poets, Contemporary Novelists, Postmodern Fiction, Webster’s Dictionary of American Writers, The HarperCollins Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature, Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Directory of American Scholars, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in American Art, NNDB.com, Wikipedia.com, and Britannica.com, among other distinguished directories. Otherwise, he survives in New York, where he was born, unemployed and thus overworked. She’s blonde and pale, just the kind of person you’d like to see naked on a ledge somewhere. Her skin bleared against the red brick of the building, her palms pressed against them, looking more puzzled than afraid or sad. He sips his beer and wonders if she’s the one for him. “You look like an angel,” he says to her. He imagines the things he would do to her if that were true. “Holy, holy, holy,” she says, brushing ashes off her sleeve. He leans towards her. “Nothing’s forbidden down here,” he says. “I don’t need that,” she says. “What are you made of?” he says. “Buy me a drink and I’ll show you what I’m made of,” she says. “Get me some smokes, too.” He stands, drains his mug; imagines her naked above him, singing in a gravelly voice. He parks himself on a wobbly barstool next to her and orders two drinks. As he reaches into his pocket for cash she says, “That’s right. You pay,” she grabs him by the throat and his eyes widen. He likes the intimacy of this moment, the palm of her hand pressed to his throat, her fingertips tensing into the flesh of his neck, everything exaggerated, pulsing, the world shrunk down to the size of a beach ball with just enough stale air left to starve his brain of the oxygen it needs to make rational decisions, get up and leave. “Halleluiah,” someone on the juke box sings. “There’s no more room in heaven,” she says and stubs her cigarette in a tin, gets up and pushes past him. “Make way.” “Right,” he calls after her, “heaven’s for dead people, anyway. I choose life. Bartender…” Robert Bradley is holed up in an apartment in Manhattan. He has a plate of chicken and rice in his refrigerator along with a jar of spaghetti sauce, some butter, broccoli and four beers. He’s going to sit down and write a screenplay any minute now. You can almost see it. The first version of “Choose Life”existed between “he” and “I” for the point of view. You went with “he.” Why? I thought it sounded better, less clumsy. But now I don’t know. Thanks for reviving for your pleasure the writer’s agony, that of linear decision making and second guessing. A torturous process, as you’re well aware. Clare Kirwan is from Wirral, England. Her stories have been published in 3:AM Magazine, The Binnacle, Dark Tales, Contrary, Flax, Short, Fast and Deadly and Little Fiction’s Listerature. Her flash fiction collection: Tales From a Broken Biro is available on Amazon. By day she is a library assistant — like Batgirl. Anything you forgot to tell us (your readers)? I forgot to tell…Along the wall on the seafront at Ushuaia is written Ushuaia: end of the world, the beginning of everything Individual entries on Richard Kostelanetz’s work in several fields appear in various editions of Readers Guide to Twentieth-Century Writers, Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature, Contemporary Poets, Contemporary Novelists, Postmodern Fiction, Webster’s Dictionary of American Writers, The HarperCollins Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature, Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Directory of American Scholars, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in American Art, NNDB.com, Wikipedia.com, and Britannica.com, among other distinguished directories. Otherwise, he survives in New York, where he was born, unemployed and thus overworked. by Matthew Salesses The boy brought home a cardboard box and set it on the kitchen table like it meant something. I sorted through looking for worth. (more…) by Barry Basden Barry Basden lives in the Texas hill country. He edits Camroc Press Review and is coauthor of CRACK! AND THUMP: WITH A COMBAT INFANTRY OFFICER IN WORLD WAR II. He is currently working on a collection of compressed pieces related to war, which has long fascinated him. Yours will be our first published triptych. What did you think of the idea? I fell in love with the idea of a triptych as soon as I saw the call for submissions and set to work immediately. It lets authors add historical context and be as playful or serious as they want, going off on tangents to entice the reader down trails away from the actual story. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve begun researching something and come to my senses hours later far from where I started. The Internet makes this easy and your triptych project is an apt complement. I have been working on this story for a while now and your 300 word limit helped. I cut 50 words and I’ve never liked it better. As a Matter Press triptych, it’s found the perfect home. You start with love, then you fry a fish. (more…) Nance Van Winckel’s digital collage work has appeared in Handsome Journal, The Cincinnati Review, Em, Dark Sky, Western Humanities Review, and other journals. Excerpts from a collage novel are forthcoming in The Kenyon Review. She has also had collage work in various galleries, juried and solo shows, and museums. Her sixth collection of poems is PACIFIC WALKERS (U. of Washington Press, 2013); a fourth book of linked stories will be out in July. She teaches in the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. To see more of her visual poems, visit: http://photoemsbynancevanwinckel.zenfolio.com/. by Bruce Holland Rogers “Our money is next to worthless,” I say into the phone. “The people of other nations laugh at our misfortunes. Criminals control the streets. I tell you, someone must pay!” (more…)LOVINGS
by Richard Kostelanetz
[Editor’s Note: Matter Press will be publishing five (5) single-page LOVINGS, from Richard Kostelanetz’s forthcoming book.]
Choose Life
by Robert Bradley
El Fin del Mundo
by Clare Kirwan
LOVINGS
by Richard Kostelanetz
[Editor’s Note: Matter Press will be publishing five (5) single-page LOVINGS, from Richard Kostelanetz’s forthcoming book.]
I Had Trouble with Comparisons
Two Weeks Later He Flew Off to Afghanistan Again
LOVINGS
by Richard Kostelanetz
A Recipe
by Barbara Black
VISUAL POEMS
by Nance Van Winckel
Part II: ALTERED GUIDE BOOK PAGES
[Artist’s Statement: Pages from Nance Van Winckel’s ebook in progress, entitled SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP: altered pages from the 1964 Official Guide to the New York World’s Fair.]
HALL OF RUINS
Investiture
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again March 15, 2023. Submit here.
Upcoming
09/09 • Rae Gourmand
09/16 • Chiwenite Onyekwelu
09/23 • TBD
09/30 • TBD