I'm delighted to report that one of my favourite literary journals, The Next Review, have published four of my poems in their latest issue (Vol.3/No.5). You can get hold of a copy by following this link to their website.
Ten pounds gets you a signed copy of The Knives of Villalejo with free p&p!
Endorsement for The Knives of Villalejo
"Matthew Stewart is a poet of consolidation, truth, and freshness, with a mastertful sense of economy. His poems matter, and his first collection has been too long in coming. These poems have the rare quality of resonating a long way beyond their modest physical limits."
I live between Extremadura, Spain, and West Sussex, England. Full collection, The Knives of Villalejo, with Eyewear Publishing. Two pamphlets, both now sold out, with HappenStance Press. You can get in touch with me via e-mail: matthstew@gmail.com.
Last night – Thursday – we celebrated publication of *The Fall* by Penelope
Curtis at John Sandoe’s bookshop (above). The book, set in one small
village ...
“Up//Roar” is the follow up to “Joy//Us Poems of Queer Joy” also published
by Arachne. Whereas the latter celebrated, the new anthology encompasses
poems f...
A fortnight today I’ll be 60, which seems ridiculous but such is life. Half
a lifetime ago I wrote this (not especially brilliant) haiku, which was
publish...
Hedgerow of Voices, Paul Brookes, Jane’s Studio Press, 2026,
ISBN: 978-1068432378, €6.94 (There’s an email contact on the publisher’s
About & Contact page...
POEM IN THE COMPANY OF AUGUSTE PONS AND PETIN THE SHORT Auguste walks round
his car, stroking its bonnet,staring in admiration at its lovely
carburettor.He...
Watching Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey on the IMAX screen at Swiss
Cottage recently reminded me of this …. Back in 2008, I was struggling to
complet...
I was delighted to find that fellow poet, Neil Leadbeater, had brought out
another collection, shared this time with Lori Levy (interviewed by Neil
h...
Though September's supposed to be the quietest month, there was a decent
audience for headliner Sue Rose. Several of her poems were about identity,
using...
I’ve just booked a workshop that Cath Drake has organised. She gets
top-notch poets and authors. Paul Hetherington is a distinguished scholar
and poet. He ...
This is the ship better known in Britain as the *Zong*, because at some
time around the time of the trial associated with it, someone misread the
letter...
Just popping back in to do some mild self-promotion. I recently had two
reviews published over at London GripSimon Richey’s Table, WindowHilary
Menos’ Vox ...
Lovely to have a haiku selected for the BHS Museum of Haiku Literature
Award. I’m honoured, and a bit overawed, to have my poem in such good
company. The w...
Much of my inspiration comes from Sweden these days, and last summer this
included a lightweight green hammock slung between trees. I came across it
during...
Since the death of his wife Dodo (the philosopher Doreen Maitre) in 2022,
much of David Miller’s work has been an elegiac exploration of grief. Late
Inscri...
Poet, Iris Anne Lewis, has clearly chosen the title of her collection,
Amber (Graffiti Books, 2024), with care. Amber, the highly valued,
fossilised tree r...
Faber, 2015, pp. 341 In this sun, swords and sandals summer of Hellenic
excess, now is the perfect time to revisit Christopher Logue’s War Music
but, if yo...
I haven’t had much time for reading lately. Poems and stories I’ve read in
the past pop into my head a lot though. Mallarmé’s ‘Brise marine’ is one of
thos...
Do you remember the first stories you heard? Perhaps they were told by the
person looking after you, or they were read to you from books your parents
had l...
Do you remember the first stories you heard? Perhaps they were told by the
person looking after you, or they were read to you from books your parents
had l...
The error that Richard Dawkins made in The Selfish Gene and has continued
to make over the 50 years since it was first published, is an error of
poetry. ...
The Wombwell Rainbow is putting out a call for unpublished poems and short
prose on your local neglected water courses. What history, geology,
industry has...
Here’s something I wrote around that time, beautifully performed by the
amazing actor Nichole Bird for Live Canon Poetry (it was shortlisted in
their open ...
I counteach step, each breath, each pull, or lift, or hold;I countin sets
of twoor four, of five or eight or ten.Quantifying movement,we measure the
time c...
Wow! It's been a while since I've posted in here!
In this modern age of Substacks, Bluesky, Insta ect etc the humble blog
seems incredibly retro. I s...
My blog has been rather neglected of late, in part because of my low energy
levels, followed by cataract surgery and then a nasty chest infection, but
I am...
We’ve been away for a holiday – and a good rest after a turbulent time in
the last eighteen months, and on our way home, I achieved a life-goal (as
my youn...
I've a new essay over at the *North Sea Poets* substack, addressing the
decline of reviewing culture, the rise of the poetry prizes, artistic
standards a...
Little SongFirst year: words left, like Gods returning to the underworld.In
the second, I lived as if I we both were dead.The words returned around
year th...
Today is National Poetry Day in the UK, and this year's theme is 'Refuge'.
On a global scale, the world is experiencing the highest levels of
displaceme...
Generally Speaking (about Bookshops) Although there is undoubtedly a few
collections of poetry that are criminally bad, you wouldn’t head to the
crime se...
The concept of poetic ecological collapse has been widely discussed, and so
I add here only a few additional notes of personal reflection. Readers will
kno...
It’s been a while since I did once of these, but maybe there’s something
here to tempt you. Christmas is just around the corner… If you’re
interested in an...
I thought I'd posted this a couple of weeks back, and realise now that I
didn't, but better late than never – this is an excellent tribute to the
poet Ma...
Dear Matthew
ReplyDeleteCongratulations again! I'm suffering from a bad case of Brexit blues at the moment but life must go on, I suppose.
Best wishes from Simon R. Gladdish