Matthea Harvey
Encyclopedia
Matthea Harvey is a contemporary American poet, writer and professor. She has published three collections, most recently, Modern Life (Graywolf Press
, 2007), which earned her the 2009 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Critics Circle
Award, and a New York Times Notable Book. She has published poems in literary magazines including The New Yorker, The New Republic, Slope, Ploughshares, The American Poetry Review.
Jeannine Hall Gailey described Harvey's Modern Life, as "obsessed with devastated worlds and hybrid forms of life," and the two longest poems in the collection, the “Terror of the Future” and “The Future of Terror,” as abecedarian
sequences that examine "the dysfunction between civilian and military populations in a stark, futuristic environment." Although Harvey has said that she "didn’t set out to write political poems," but to explore "that idea of living in the middle of contradiction—in the grey area, between yes and no," the two poems were nonetheless acclaimed by The New York Times
as "among the most arresting poems yet written about the current American political atmosphere . . . all the more surprising coming from a writer whose sensibility seems so resistant to our usual ideas about 'political poetry.' "
Harvey has served as the poetry
editor
of American Letters & Commentary as well as a contributing editor to jubilat
and BOMB. She was born in Germany, and grew up in England and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She earned her B.A. from Harvard University
and her M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop
. She currently lives in Brooklyn and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College
. She is the sister of artist Ellen Harvey
and is married to editor Rob Casper.
Children's Books
In Translation
Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
, 2007), which earned her the 2009 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Critics Circle
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
Award, and a New York Times Notable Book. She has published poems in literary magazines including The New Yorker, The New Republic, Slope, Ploughshares, The American Poetry Review.
Jeannine Hall Gailey described Harvey's Modern Life, as "obsessed with devastated worlds and hybrid forms of life," and the two longest poems in the collection, the “Terror of the Future” and “The Future of Terror,” as abecedarian
Abecedarius
An abecedarius is an acrostic in which the first letter of every word, strophe or verse follows the order of the alphabet. Abecedarius is also a generic term for an alphabet book, which dates back to Biblical writings such as the Psalms, which used successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet as the...
sequences that examine "the dysfunction between civilian and military populations in a stark, futuristic environment." Although Harvey has said that she "didn’t set out to write political poems," but to explore "that idea of living in the middle of contradiction—in the grey area, between yes and no," the two poems were nonetheless acclaimed by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as "among the most arresting poems yet written about the current American political atmosphere . . . all the more surprising coming from a writer whose sensibility seems so resistant to our usual ideas about 'political poetry.' "
Harvey has served as the poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of American Letters & Commentary as well as a contributing editor to jubilat
Jubilat
jubilat is a widely-distributed American poetry journal published by the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst...
and BOMB. She was born in Germany, and grew up in England and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She earned her B.A. from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and her M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
. She currently lives in Brooklyn and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
. She is the sister of artist Ellen Harvey
Ellen Harvey
Ellen Harvey is a Brooklyn based artist working in a variety of media, including painting, video, installation and performance. She is a graduate of Harvard University, Yale Law School and attended both the Whitney Independent Study Program and the PS1 National Studio Program...
and is married to editor Rob Casper.
Published works
Poetry Collections- Modern Life (Graywolf PressGraywolf PressGraywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
, 2007) - Sad Little Breathing Machine (Graywolf PressGraywolf PressGraywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
, 2004) - Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form (Alice James BooksAlice James BooksAlice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington.- History and mission :...
, 2000)
Children's Books
- The Little General and the Giant Snowflake (Tin House Books, 2009)
In Translation
- Der kleine General und die riesenhafte Schneeflocke (luxbooks, 2008)
- Du kennst das auch (kookbooks, 2010)
External links
- Author website
- Tarpaulin Sky > Matthea Harvey > Poems from Modern Life
- Tarpaulin Sky > Q&A: Matthea Harvey > by Selah Saterstrom, August 2006
- Poetry Foundation Interview > Post-apocalypse, Poetry, and Robots: A Conversation With Matthea Harvey About Modern Life > by Jeannine Hall Gailey
- BookSlut: An Interview with Matthea Harvey > October 2007 Review of Modern Life.
- Alice James Books > Matthea Harvey > Author Page
- Audio: Matthea Harvey at the Key West Literary Seminar, 2010
- Interview with Harvey, September 2007, by Miriam SaganMiriam SaganMiriam Sagan is a U.S. poet, as well as an essayist, memoirist and teacher. She is the author of over a dozen books, and lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a founding member of the collaborative press .A graduate of Harvard with an M.A...