The Blank of the Blank

Bonjour, internet, from early September in Albany, NY (though the pic is from housebound pandemic times). I’m checking in about a few recent summer pubs. First, in July, my English-to-English translation of Schuyler’s “The Morning of the Poem” (from my complete pandemically-composed English-to-English translations of the Collected Poems of James Schuyler) popped up at Heavy Feather Review! So many thanks to the editors there esp. Jason Teal and Bill Lessard for soliciting the work. They also included a brooding morning recording and a sweet li’l interview. Enjoy over breakfast or whatevs!

Secondly, in August, my "The Friends of the Library" was in among the star-packed new summer volume of Action, Spectacle. Matthew Dickman, and Matthew Rohrer, and all of the famous Matthew poets are in here. Even a few Matts. I can't imagine a better place for this poem. Anyway, a few falls ago, I followed only poets on Twitter. Every Sunday night, for 13 weeks, I collected the first 10 tweets in my feed and used that text to generate a poem that week. I ended up creating a series of poet composite profiles, a portrait of who we are, now were, myself included, at the moment. Many of the poems ended up being, as you can imagine, a li'l sardonic, a li'l sensitive, a li'l self-loathing, a li'l petty, but there's plenty of other stuff buried in there too - all the stuff! - including some sneaky mystical delight. Like this one here that starts with a reference to a Brenda Hillman tweet. And dudes - if can you believe it? - Brenda Hillman's even in this volume of Action, Spectacle, too!

poetry makes you lonely

Hey internet, I haven’t checked in for a while, so here’s a roundup! New poems in Cul-de-sac of Blood from a manuscript of Burroughs-like dreams (working title Poetry Makes You Lonely); a bundle of Rending Stories in the latest Afternoon Visitor; three poems from a series called “The Ukraine” now up on Trilobite; some collages in ^the^ Adroit Journal. Biggest thang—with many thanks to Olivia Muenz—is a longform artist statement slash interview with James Belflower and I about HIST, published on the ANMLY blog “The Markings of Music,” which includes two chapter excerpts and two recordings. You can engage the whole piece here. Thanks for reading, friends. I hope to see you somewheres this year!

happy old year / the Afterword

Here’s a mini nearly-imperceptible MK newsflash to commemorate the year’s passing. If you missed it, over the last few months, I had a few poems pop up on the internet: a clutch of Rending Stories appeared in the tiny and two poems from a nearly finished manuscript called The Poets — “The Ain’t Gettin Any Younger” and “The Reality Check” — appeared in JMWW and Bullshit Lit, respectively. If you’re not like, uh, a words person, I also had some collages published in Hayden’s Ferry Review, swifts & slows, The Quarterless Review, and Hypersaturation. Many thanks to the many editors for their graciousness and good work!

Meanwhile, in the real world, on Earth, in these very United States, I appeared — sometimes with James Belflower, sometimes sans —to perform our poetry new graphic novel HIST. We hit Amherst, Troy, Endicott College in North Shore Massachusetts, Chicago, Iowa City, and Minneapolis. My gratitude to everyone who hosted and joined us along the way! This winter and spring, I look forward to more performances as we’ll be bringing HIST to Buffalo, Philly, DC, and who knows where! Stay tuned to the Events calendar otherwheres on this site.

Final thang. This year, I’ve started up a little blog, “The Afterword,” where I have plans to review, respond to, and remix my year’s reading list. My first prosy post is on Renee Gladman’s Plans for Sentences (which I bought a few months ago at St. Rocco’s sidewalk sale outside of Urban Aftermath in Albany). Heart of hearts, friends. Here’s to another year of reading and writing!

HIST

If you ain’t heard, HIST is here! Some early highlights:

It has a dope trailer upon the Youtube.

I wrote this li’l description:

“HIST is a lightbright apocalyptic 19th century text-image blockbuster populated with behind-the-screen metaphysical rescues, chases, shipwrecks, love affairs, murders, hauntings, monsters, demonic possessions, and ritual offerings.”

Nick Francis Potter was generous enough to write this blurb:

“James Belflower and Matthew Klane’s Hist is as much a hallucinogen as a comic book, refiguring 19th-century imagery into pixel-crushed pages of gorgeous comics pulp. Here, everything’s glitched, distorted, and swimming in digital debris, resulting in a noisy-beautiful poetics steeped in granular horror, punk, and bursts of neon vaporwave. Innovative and brilliant—I can’t think of anything quite like it.”

Jesi Buell penned a cool review published in the latest Exacting Clam.

James and I have a number of early shows planned. Check out this event calendar to find a live HIST near you.

COLLAGE ROUNDUP

Friends, in the last few months, my little paper-on-papers have found their way all over God’s internet. “A Lost Civilization” dropped in Dream Pop (see below). I placed a whole household of odd critters in the animal issue of A) Glimpse) Of). I also showed some magic tricks in Issue 6 of Press Pause and more were featured on Feral Dove. Most recently, a few collages appeared in the nature-themed Summer 2022 issue of Barzakh (represent Albany!). Plus, plus, two in print via the new local mag Hypersaturation. Click some links. The show is free!

HIST

New year, new news, new book soon to be in the world! HIST, a second collaboration between myself and James Belflower, is forthcoming late summer from Calamari Archive. As a li’l appetizer, they’ve (re)published the first chapter of the book - “The Rescue of Hist” (previously published by Pulpmouth) - on their press journal Sleepingfish. To say, as well, other chapters from this book are new to the world: “Canoe Chase on the Horican” in Diagram 22.1 and “The Thicket on the Prairie” in Word for/Word 37. Other chapters from HIST are forthcoming from ANMLY and Harpy Hybrid Review. Many thanks to those editors!

Tee Time

Friends, I’ve thrown my hat into the ring of the tee shirt game. My RedBubble virtual storefront is live live live. This ain't no business venture; just wanna see some of my art infiltrate the world offpage. I'll be uploading one new design per week and leaving them up for only a month. Mostly on tee shirts, but also other stuff if I think it'd be cool. FOR EXAMPLE, the first one is up: "Climate Change for the Non-Believers." Designed by me as their "essential tee" in light blue, but also available in other styles and colors. I also slapped the image on a hardcover writing journal and it looks fire emoji. Reach out if you have requests.



Flex

Flex: some of my junkmail collages have newly hit the world’s internet! Flex: first of all, check out my “Local Doc” in the latest issue of Breakwater Review. Flex: as well as five (count ‘em: five!) pieces in the latest Afternoon Visitor. Flex: including the cover (“Cardboard Box”) and “The Gun Show” (pictured below). Muscle pose with glue stick and scissors. More news as it comes.

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Twenty Twenty

Internets alert, despite being inside for the entire year, some of my wordwork actually entered the world. Here’s the lightning roundup: A new chapbook, Poetical Sketches, my complete English-to-English translations of Blake juvenalia, was published by the wonderful Jen Tynes at The Magnificent Field. Some other playful re-dittying of James Schuyler’s “Freely Espousing” was published by Sink Review. A chapter, “Pigeon Shooting,” from a graphic novelish collaboration-in-progress with James Belfower, was published by New Delta Review. Only in-print, the opening two-step from my manuscript Druid Craft was published in volume 2 of Dirt Child (thx Gin Hart + Mal Young). And collages collages collages are now online at ctrl + v (cover art), Counterclock, Diagram, Sixth Finch, and word for / word. More soon and looking forward!

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Homonym (and latest PUBS)

You can find a selection of 7 Songs from my Poetical Sketches - English to English Blake translations of Blake juvenalia - in the summer Homonym (Issue 4). This from the disappearing author note: each treed then whittled into bird skeletons, each I tried to shell and seed.

And here, here, the latest two internet pop-ups of Chimes: some in Small Po[r]tions and a few more in Reality Beach.

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