August 30, 2014 (Baldinger, Brea, Matcho & Newman)

East End Book Exchange

August 30, 2014

Note: This Labor Day Weekend event was curated by Jason Baldinger and is not part of the Hemingway's Poetry Series. It is noteworthy for the presence of three relatively new voices on the Pittsburgh poetry scene. Stephanie Brea has not previously been recorded for this blog. Both Adam Matcho and Dave Newman were recorded once during the previous Hemingway's Poetry Series season but feature here works that focus on the theme of Labor.

Jason Baldinger has spent a life in odd jobs, if only poetry was the strangest of them he’d have far less to talk about.  Somewhere in time, he traveled the country, and wrote a few books, the latest of which are “The Lower 48” on Six Gallery Press and “The Studs Terkel Blues” on Night Ballet Press. A short litany of publishing credits include The New Yinzer, Shatter Wig Press, Blast Furnace and you can also hear audio of some poems at http://jasonbaldinger.bandcamp.com/.

Jason Baldinger - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Stephanie Brea has slung coffee, written about inventions and worked for a company that built museum exhibits. This means she likes her espresso doubled, is most likely responsible for some of the products pitched on late night infomercials and can spell archaeopteryx without the need for spell check. She is a part-time copy editor and facilitates creative writing workshops for local schools and organizations. Her work has been published in Pear Noir!, The Legendary, Nerve Cowboy and Pittsburgh City Paper.

Stephanie Brea - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Adam Matcho is an obituary writer and contributor to The New Yinzer. He is a former technical writer, novelty shop clerk, basketball coach and gas station attendant. His chapbook, Six Dollars an Hour: Confessions of a Gemini Writer, was published by Liquid Paper Press and his essay collection, The Novelty Essays, was published by WPA Press. When not writing death notices, Adam tries to write about life. He lives in a former craft shop with his wife, two sons and too many animals. As Dave Newman has said, "Adam Matcho has more talent than most corporations have profits, and his vision of America is tragic and brilliant and hilarious.”

Adam Matcho - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Dave Newman is the author of the novels Two Small Birds (Writers Tribe Books, 2014), Raymond Carver Will Not Raise Our Children (Writers Tribe Books, 2012) and Please Don’t Shoot Anyone Tonight (World Parade Books, 2010), and the collection, The Slaughterhouse Poems (White Gorilla Press, 2013), named one of the Best Books of 2013 by L Magazine. He’s worked as a truck driver, a book store manager, an air filter salesman, a house painter, and a college teacher. More than 100 of his poems and stories have appeared in magazines throughout the world, including Gulf Stream, Word Riot, Smokelong Quarterly, Rattle, Wormwood Review, Tears in the Fence (UK), andThe New Yinzer. He has been the featured writer and on the cover of both 5AM and Chiron Review. Anthologies include Beside the City of Angels (World Parade Books) and The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary Poetry(Autumn House Press). Newman has won three chapbooks prizes. In 2004, he received the Andre Dubus Novella Award. He lives in Trafford, Pennsylvania with his wife, the writer Lori Jakiela, and their two children.

Dave Newman - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

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