WELCOME!
My first poem, about wind through chaparral, brought my private world into the public. It’s exhilarating – and scary! – to do this. You become authentic. You create real connections with people. You even find treasures hiding in your creative unconscious – stories, emotions, spiritual life, history. Be ready for a supremely soul-satisfying journey.
CLIVE’S WORK
Author of nine volumes of poetry and the acclaimed Let The Crazy Child Write!, a writer’s manual that prompts the creative unconscious, Clive is now completing his masterwork. The long poem, Hello, Paradise. Paradise, Goodbye, is an exploration in Modernist form of the challenges of climate disruption, unbridled greed and government corruption to the survival of the human species. For his works in print, go to the Books page. For poems go to the Poetry page.
To contact Clive about classes, workshops, retreats, and mentoring: clive@matsonpoet.com
INSTRUCTION
Numerous workshops are offered, currently by Zoom, including ten-week series in Poetry, Prose, Plays, Nonfiction, as well as a monthly Let the Crazy Child Write workshop. Personal coaching is available as well as a series The Novel’s Arc for writers seeking publication. In addition, writing excursions are offered, in the Eastern Sierra, available in August each year with social distancing provided, Costa Rica and Scotland, and wherever else the creative spirit leads us. Take a look at Clive’s offerings.
To contact Clive about classes, workshops, retreats, and mentoring: clive@matsonpoet.com
COMMUNITY
Check out our quarterly publication, The Scribbler, which features work by Clive’s students and other writers and poets. Published since 1993, copies of the journal from April 2011 can be viewed on our website. Poetry Saloon, a monthly potluck and shared reading is held the second Friday evening of every month since 1994. Writing programs and events are sponsored by our nonprofit WordsSwell.
WHAT’S NEW
Plans are already in the works for the next “Writing Highway 395” excursion to the Eastern Sierra mountains mid-August 2024 at Pine Cliff Resort in Mono County. Social distancing will be practiced and there is plenty of space in the fresh mountain air to enjoy writing sessions and visits to local offerings such as the tufa trail at Mono Lake, hiking in the volcanic caldera, hot springs and much more. Go to Instruction/excursions/writinghighway395 for more information and to sign up.
ABOUT CLIVE
Clive Matson (MFA Columbia University, a lifelong author, is a recognized Lifetime Honor Beat Poet Laureate by the National Beat Poetry Foundation and joins other noted poets, like Bob Dylan and David Amram. He was also featured guest speaker at the 2023 International Beat Poetry Festival sponsored by the National Beat Poetry Foundation. A native Californian and resident of Oakland, CA, Clive has published nine volumes of poetry, and has taught creative writing workshops since 1978, leading the East Bay Express to laud him as Best Writing Teacher. He maintains a busy schedule, including classes, writing retreats, and frequent readings of his poetry in the San Francisco Bay Area. Clive is a member of the European Beat Studies Network where he connects with global scholars of the Beat Generation. (more)
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Look here for the latest offerings of Clive’s writing workshops, excursions, readings, and community events.
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READINGS
Clive’s 250+ page poem, Hello, Paradise. Paradise, Goodbye will be published by the National Beat Poetry Foundation in 2024. Since the 2017 premiere in Paris with cellist Gael Alcock, he has been reading selections from the poem in a variety of venues, both in person and online. (more)
BOOKS
Clive is the author of nine volumes of poetry, plus the acclaimed writing “how-to” Let the Crazy Child Write, used in writing classes in many venues. His first work was published by Diane DiPrima’s Poets Press in 1966. More information on Clive’s books here.
Clive’s new work, Hello, Paradise. Paradise, Goodbye is an epic masterpiece exploring the grief we are now experiencing over the potential demise of homo sapiens due to government failure and the impact of climate change on species extinction. Excerpts of the poem available soon.
BLOG
Clive Matson has been an inveterate blogger, along with his substantial output as an in-print writer. Recent blogs will be found on the Blog page, as well as some older material still relevant as we face the challenges of modern life, including political unrest at home and abroad, the unknown but potentially disturbing effects of climate change, and the economic and immigration provocations inherent in 21st Century government. Clive wrote extensively on the Occupy Movement in years past and the issues raised then are still with us. Those issues are distilled under a clear lens in his most recent poetic work, Hello, Paradise. Paradise, Goodbye. Full blog here.