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Matt's Interests
General
Writing, books, birds. Phillip Lopate warns us against writing about obsession, suggesting instead that we cultivate an "endless curiosity" about the world. But what is obsession, really, other than an endless curiosity about the world?
Music
My radio stays tuned almost exclusively to WWOZ 90.7 FM (http://www.wwoz.org) and to NPR. Soul Coughing. Morphine. Wilco. Bonerama. Kermit Ruffins. Johnny Winter. Papa Grows Funk. Anders Osborne. Norah Jones. Jurassic Five. Sublime. Nirvana. Son Volt. Joe Williams. Beastie Boys. Dan Zanes. Rage Against the Machine. Laurie Berkner. Raffi. Les Claypool. Buckethead. That One Guy. Wild Magnolias. Morning 40 Federation.
Movies
Independent films and documentaries mostly, but I'm also a sucker for comic book adaptations and sci-fi special effects extravaganzas. You don't need a cinema screen to watch Drew Barrymore flirt with Hugh Grant; you do need a giant screen to watch Hellboy fulfill his purpose, to watch Spidey fight Doc Ock on the side of the building, or to see Ridley Scott's vision of Imperial Rome.
Television
PBS.
Books
Steve Almond's Candyfreak; Barry Lopez's Crossing Open Ground; Rick Bass; Steve Church's The Guinness Book of Me; Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried; Gary Paul Nabhan; Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief; David Shields' Remote; Bernard Cooper's Maps to Anywhere; Michael Martone's Blue Guide to Indiana; Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder; Tony Swofford's Jarhead; Tom Bissell's Chasing the Sea; Andrei Codrescu; Jack Turner's The Abstract Wild; Krakauer's Into the Wild; and Lauren Slater's Lying. I am also an obsessive reader of Best American collections, especially Essays, Science and Nature Writing, and the new Nonrequired Reading series.
Heroes
My wife, Jennifer, and my children, Chloe and Carter. My brother, Tom, for coming to readings even though he knew I was going to be reading about him. My friends, all of you, for listening to what it is that I have to say.
About me: I was born and raised in the suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, where every Spring a dumptruck would leave a pile of dirt dredged up from the river so that we could level the yard, shore up the foundation, and so keep our home, our city, from sinking back into the swamp. Ten years ago I left this place to see snow for the first time, and have recently returned to The Big Uneasy, city of Despair, to see what we can do to help in the wake of Katrina. It hasn't been easy. Coming home never is, and all expectations were very early tossed onto the debris piles strewn about my Uptown neighborhood.
As a writer, my work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Chattahoochee Review, Isotope, Many Mountains Moving, Matter, Cimarron Review, Ecotone, Post Road, and Ninth Letter. I have attended the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference as a General Participant in Nonfiction, and have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I consider myself a nonfictionista, irresistably drawn to the natural tension created when we try to translate the strangness of our reality into words.
Hey, Matt. We at Ninth Letter are happy to have aboard as nonfiction contributor. A pal of mine from University of Illinois PhD days teaches Shakespeare at Colorado State, I believe. Barb Sebek. We may well share some Louisiana connections as well. Smallish world.
I have questions about the spring dumping of river dirt in your yard. How long would the pile sit? Ramps? Ordinance saying you have a certain amount of time to tend your pile? Lazy neighbors accumulate piles over the years? Quality of dirt? Nasty stuff or fertile good fo yo crops?
Hey Matt and family. Hope all is going well for you. Wanted you to know I was in the median of a busy street today rescuing a one eyed robin. I likes birds too. Oh yea, I need my bike back. Joking
Hey Matt!
I dreamed I was talking with you the other day, then I forgot that it was a dream, and I hadn't actually responded. It's good to see you again. Hope all is well with the fam, and that you're continuing our dark project.
Check out my website sometime (it's really just a front for recruiting our Minion army): www.toddmitchellbooks.com Cheers,
T.
Welcome to MySpace, Matt. I can tell by your profile pic that you probably had a lot of flannel in your closet in the early '90s. It's just an educated guess.
