Matt Mason

Poet, Spoken Word Artist

Omaha, NE
Nebraska US
Email: 
mtmason@gmail.com
Website: 
matt.midverse.com

Author's Bio

Matt Mason is the Nebraska State Poet and Executive Director of the Nebraska Writers Collective. Through the US State Department, he has run workshops in Botswana, Romania, Nepal, and Belarus. Mason is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and his work can be found in The New York Times, on NPR’s Morning Edition, and in American Life in Poetry. Mason's 4th book, At the Corner of Fantasy and Main: Disneyland, Midlife and Churros, was released by The Old Mill Press in 2022. Matt is based out of Omaha with his wife, the poet Sarah McKinstry-Brown, and daughters Sophia and Lucia.

Publications & Prizes

Poetry

Anthologies:
The Pushcart Prize XXXVII: Best of the Small Presses (2013 Edition) (Pushcart Press, 2013)
,
Nebraska Presence (Backwaters Press, 2007)
,
The Spoken Word Revolution Redux (Sourcebooks, 2007)
Books:
At the Corner of Fantasy and Main: Disneyland, Midlife and Churros (Old Mill Press, 2022)
,
I Have a Poem the Size of the Moon (Stephen F. Austin State University Press, 2020)
,
The Baby That Ate Cincinnati (Stephen F. Austin State University Press, 2013)
,
Things We Don't Know We Don't Know (Backwaters Press, 2006)
Chapbooks:
When The Bough Breaks (Lone Willow Press, 2005)
,
Mistranslating Neruda (New Michigan Press, 2002)

Spoken Word

Anthology:
Slamma Lamma Ding Dong: An Anthology of Nebraska's Slam Poets (iUniverse, 2005)
Performances:
House of Music, Kathmandu (2010)
,
Bronx Club in Minsk, Belarus (2008)
,
Omaha Healing Arts Center Poetry Slam (2008)
,
National Poetry Slam, Austin (2007)
,
National Poetry Slam, Albuquerque (2005)
,
National Poetry Slam, Chicago (2003)
,
National Poetry Slam, Minneapolis (2002)
,
The Green Mill, Chicago (2002)
,
Maitisong Festival, Botswana ()
,
National Poetry Slam, Oakland ()
Prizes won: 

2019 Nebraska State Poet 2013 Pushcart Prize 2007 Nebraska Book Award for Poetry 2006 Nebraska Book Award for Anthology VerseDaily.org, Verse Daily Poem of the Day, March 14, 2003 Akron Art Museum, New Words 2002 Poetry Contest award poem, April, 2002 MobyLives.com, “Whale Sighting” poem, March 5, 2002 Bulkhead, Poetry Competition Honorable Mention Best Poem, May, 2001 Mad Poets Review, 2000 Poetry Competition Judges Choice Award, October, 2000 Literal Latté, 5th Annual Literal Latté Poetry Award Honorable Mention, Volume 5 #5, September-October, 1999 Plainsongs, Award Poem, September, 1999 Literal Latté, “Rosemary and Rhyme” Food Verse Contest 1st Place, Volume 5 #2, March-April 1999 1994 C.T. Wright Award for Poetry from the University of California-Davis and the Academy of American Poets The Lyric College Contest, Honorable Mention, Spring 1990 The Lyric College Contest, Honorable Mention, Spring 1989

Watch

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Keats, Duhamel, Abdurraqib, Frost, Smith (Patricia), and many, many more.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Scotch-Irish American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Omaha, NE
Nebraska
Raised in: 
Omaha, NE
Nebraska
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jun 01, 2022