Suits For the Swarm

“Matt Gano, whose swagger and soul and verbal dexterity have knocked out spoken-word audiences for years, brings his staggering inventiveness to the page—where he also, and absolutely, belongs. Here are irresistible scenes out of the sagebrush and empty lots of a charmed and timeless boyhood; love from all sides—wild-horse young, and 94 years old; and the moon: brilliant, unexpected, new, ‘with … lemon-meringue peaks/ and eating-contest complexion.’ These are beautifully-crafted poems, alive with startling transitions, humor, and the wisdom that lets ‘the rhythm in the ride be what I write.’ And they’re pure pleasure.” ~ Kathleen Flenniken, Washington State Poet Laureate, author of Plume and Famous

Matt Gano is a native of Washington State. He grew up eating dust east of the Cascades. He has been writing and teaching professionally since 2004. In 2011, he was invited to lecture as a guest speaker for The Juilliard School in NYC and performed as a featured poet for "Page Meets Stage," at the Bowery Poetry Club. In 2009, he was Writer-in-Residence at the Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity in Hong Kong and led creative writing workshops the previous year for the Youth Creativity Summit in Seoul, Korea. He has represented Seattle at the National Poetry Slam multiple years and is the 2008 Seattle Grand-Slam champion. Matt has worked as a national slam team coach and workshop instructor for Youth Speaks and is currently a senior Artist-in-Residence with Seattle Arts and Lectures, Writers in the Schools. His previously published work includes chapbooks: Up From the Mine, Bones For The Builder, Music Maker, Welcome Home, I Eight the Infinite and Art Barker. A poetry LP entitled Music Maker, and a live recording entitled A Giant's Pulse.