Matthew Rohrer

Surrounded by Friends Matthew Rohrer

Marc Notes: The poems in this collection are generated by, and embrace, friendships with the living, the dead, and the inanimate. Friends, family, and the urban peoplescape are gathered together here, with more and more poetic voices joining in. It ends with poems written 'in collaboration' with Kobayashi Issa, Yosa Buson, Matsuo Basho, and Hafiz. Biographical Note: Matthew Rohrer is the author of "Destroyer and Preserver" (Wave Books, 2011), "A Plate of Chicken" (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2009), "Rise Up" (Wave Books, 2007) and "A Green Light" (Verse Press, 2004), which was shortlisted for the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize. He is also the author of "Satellite" (Verse Press, 2001), and co-author, with Joshua Beckman, of "Nice Hat. Thanks." (Verse Press, 2002), and the audio CD "Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty." He has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered and The Next Big Thing. His first book, "A Hummock in the Malookas" was selected for the National Poetry Series by Mary Oliver in 1994. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches at NYU. Publisher Marketing:"Rohrer's frequently beautiful, brief poems are rooted in specific images that initially seem unrelated--but which ultimately form a unity as meditations on how the ordinary distractions of everyday life can be seen as the source for almost everything important in life."--Ken Tucker, "Entertainment Weekly"The poems in Matthew Rohrer's seventh poetry collection are generated by, and embrace, friendships with the living, the dead, and the inanimate. Friends, family, and the urban peoplescape are gathered together in these poems, with more and more poetic voices joining in, and ending with poems written "in collaboration" with Kobayashi Issa, Yosa Buson, Matsuo Basho, and Hafiz. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LONELIER"There is absolutely nothing lonelierthan the little Mars rovernever shutting down, digging uprocks, so far away from Bond Streetin a light rain. I wonderif he makes little beeps? If sohe is lonelier still. He fires a laserinto the dust. He coughs. A shinything in the sand turns out to be his."Matthew Rohrer has received the Hopwood Award for poetry, a Pushcart Prize, was selected as a National Poetry Series winner by Mary Oliver, and was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize. He is the co-author, with Joshua Beckman, of "Nice Hat. Thanks.," and the audio CD "Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty." He has appeared on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "The Next Big Thing." He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches at NYU. Review Citations:

Publishers Weekly 02/16/2015 (EAN 9781940696034, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Rohrer, Matthew Matthew Rohrer is the author of A Hummock in the Malookas (which won the 1994 National Poetry Series Open Competition), SATELLITE, A GREEN LIGHT (short-listed for the 2005 Griffin International Poetry Prize), RISE UP, and A PLATE OF CHICKEN. With Joshua Beckman he wrote NICE HAT. THANKS. and recorded the audio CD ADVENTURES WHILE PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF BEAUTY. He's appeared on NPR's All Things Considered and The Next Big Thing, has been awarded the Avery Hopwood Prize for poetry and a Pushcart Prize, and has been widely anthologized. A chapbook-length action/adventure poem They All Seemed Asleep was published by Octopus Books in 2008. He teaches in the creative writing program at NYU and lives in Brooklyn.