New Work and an Interview with Matthew Olzmann

A new poem and interview with alumnus Matthew Olzmann (poetry, ’09) appears online at the Best American Poetry blog:

The Skull of an Unidentified Dinosaur

does not belong to the dinosaur skeleton

to which it has been attached.

A man thought he made an amazing

discovery.  Now, it’s a towering mistake,

one for which he’ll likely lose his job,

but only after taking this skyscraper

of bones—with its eye-sockets

like windows to hell—apart.

Femur by mandible, I know what it means

to watch your good fortune change its mind.

Like that time in college, when my friend’s

supermodel cousin invited us to a party

and accidentally kissed me in the dark.

She thought I was someone else—I have

no idea who—but the gist of the story

can be seen in her freaking out

when the light ruined everything.

…

Finish reading online. 

The Interview, with Sally Wen Mao

SWM: Who are you? What are you all about?

MO: I like how Ocean Vuong answered this same question a couple days ago, saying, “Some days I feel like a human. Some days I feel more like a sound.”  I like the flexibility of that answer, allowing for an identity in flux.  For me too, it changes rapidly, from moment to moment.  Right now, there’s a baseball game on the radio.  I’m all about—this October—the Detroit Tigers winning the 2014 World Series. If this fails to happen, I’ll be all about them winning it in 2015.  I’m easily distracted, and what I’m “all about” is constantly in motion.  I’m all about the newborn lambs and piglets on the farm of the college where I teach. I’m all about the mountains that surround this place. In the autumn, when the leaves begin to fall, you can see houses behind the tree line that you didn’t know were there.

…

Continue reading the interview online.