Mat Riches' Collecting the Data

Bearing in mind that I’ve seen all the poems in Mat Riches first pamphlet, Collecting the Data (Red Squirrel Press, 2023) at multiple stages in their development, and have given feedback on every single one, from first draft to reassembly after Nell’s ritual dismembering of words, lines and stanzas, there’s no way I can rightly write a review of this book.

It wouldn’t be objective or independent of me to do so, as most people know we’re good friends. And then, such a supposed review might well also end up sounding like an extended blurb, as I deeply admire the huge strides he’s made in his poetry over the last six years. Mind you, talking of blurbs, here’s the one I wrote from the heart for his back cover:

Mat Riches is a specialist in the humorous use of the serious and the serious use of the humorous, channelled through a playful but yoked relish for language.

And on that note, I feel it’s only right and correct that I should suggest you immediately visit the Red Squirrel webshop (see here) and get hold of a copy for yourself…!