Word Made Flesh
by Karie Luidens
[Editor’s Note: Click on each image below to view it at full size.]
Karie Luidens is a writer of criticism, commentary, current events, and semi-connected musings. The word-made-flesh λόγος is her first tattoo but surely won’t be her last. Follow her ever-evolving body of work at karieluidens.com.
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What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “Word Made Flesh”? I often find that I have grand creative visions but am too much of a perfectionist to follow through—I know the final version of any endeavor will never be as polished as the version in my mind’s eye. Tattoos pose a particular challenge to someone with that tendency. You can’t rework the draft endlessly in cycles of idea and doubt; either you have the tattoo, or you don’t. I figured if I could take the leap and commit ink to a permanent form in my own skin, that could help me commit ink to permanent forms in publication, too…even forms as imperfect as my own penmanship.
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 September 15, 2025. Submit here.
Upcoming
12/15 • Isabelle Ness
12/22 • Catherine Bai
12/29 • Stephan Viau
01/05 • Allison Blevins
01/12 • Justin Ocelot
01/19 • Yejun Chun
01/26 • Mathieu Parsy
02/02 • Robert McBrearty
02/09 • Sarah Daly
02/16 • Wayne Lee
02/23 • Terena Elizabeth Bell
03/02 • Michael Mirolla
03/09 • Nicholas Claro
03/16 • TBD
03/23 • TBD
03/30 • TBD