July 4th
by Lucinda Kempe
Lucinda Kempe lives in an Arts & Crafts house on Long Island and exorcises with words.
How did creating the triptych inform your own understanding of the piece? Creating the triptych was a blast. The idea of dissecting the language and imagery led me to the universals in the piece: fireworks, independence, war, militants, destruction, disruption, holidays, cats, a good night’s sleep, peace, etc. By googling July 4th, I found a mother lode of fascinating facts, some of which relate to America but also to the world beyond and are no less germane. This was a great exercise in examining the meaning and redolence of the language I’d used. Beyond telling me I’d chosen a good subject, the triptych made me examine the resonance and scope of the subject matter I had written about. Further, it told me that all my work should be able to stand up to such scrutiny and be of similar scope and resonance. (Secretly, I thought, Gee, this is a pretty good piece!)
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
05/04 • Leath Tonino
05/11 • Chris Pellizzari
05/18 • Chris Clemens
05/25 • Clayton Eccard
06/01 • TBD
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06/22 • TBD
06/29 • TBD
07/06 • TBD
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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