Matt Mason

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Matt Mason is a poet based in Omaha, Nebraska. He has published eight chapbooks and one full-length work of poetry as well as two anthologies. Mason has written about relationship, religion and the Bible, and themes of Midwest and Great Plains life. Mason's early work focused on cows and earned him a reputation as a humorous poet, but he has written comedy, drama, and tragedy.

Six of Mason's chapbooks have been published through his own small press, Morpo Press. Two of his chapbooks, Mistranslating Neruda and When the Bough Breaks were published by other small presses. His full-length book, Things We Don't Know We Don't Know, was published by The Backwaters Press and debuted at #12 on The Poetry Foundation's Contemporary bestsellers list. The anthology Slamma Lamma Ding Dong, which Mason edited, was made available through iUniverse and won the 2006 Nebraska Book Award for Best Anthology.

Matt Mason is notable also because of his work as a poetry activist in the Omaha area. A January 30, 2005 article in the Omaha World-Herald calls Mason, "the unofficial coordinator and arguably the driving force behind Omaha's blossoming poetry slam scene." [1] He operates the Poetry Menu, a website that lists poetry events in Nebraska. He has hosted several events in Omaha, most recently the Healing Arts Center poetry slam. Mason has been a member of the team representing Omaha at the National Poetry Slam more than once.

Matt Mason is married to the poet Sarah McKinstry-Brown.