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Quote by Matthew Zapruder

“Music and songs have always been a constant part of my life, and still are. My brother Michael, who is a songwriter and composer, is the one who most fully inherited the musical legacy of our family, but I got some part of it - mostly the feel.”

Quote by Matthew Zapruder

Author

Matthew Zapruder

Matthew Zapruder is an American poet born in 1967. His work is known for its concise and direct language style, exploring themes of personal emotion, cultural identity, and the complexities of modern life. Zapruder's poetry has gained widespread recognition in the literary world, with his works winning multiple awards. more

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“I was thinking a little bit about this very thing - poetry and music - the other day when I was listening to Lucinda Williams. The way she sings is very emotive, and there is a kind of drag to her articulation: she sings behind the beat, sort of like she's being pulled along by the song a little, or is in resistance to it.”

Thinking Way Kind Littles Song Bits Behinds Listening Little Bit Beats Resistance Drag Articulation Poetry And Music

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“It's a kind of de-familiarization in relation to the song: if she were to sing absolutely straight, right on the beat, because of the richness and intensity of her instrument - her voice - I think it could actually feel a little inhuman, too good somehow, separate from our concerns.”

Ifs Thinking Feels Kind Littles Song Voice Beats Concern Relation Instruments Intensity Richness Inhuman

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“Not that I play guitar anywhere near as well as she sings, but I think I have always had a tendency to play solos the same way, in emotional relation to the structure of the song. I choose simple lines, and only play what seems emotionally relevant, and often express that emotion in time, that is in play or resistance to the set time of the song.”

Thinking Way Wells Play Seems Song Lines Simple Emotion Emotional Relation Structure Guitar Resistance Tendencies Relevant Solo

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“I guess my poems feel to me a bit like they are doing something in relation to experience, i.e. time.”

Feels Bits Relation

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“I've always been more than a little mystified by poets who seem to think talking to people as directly as possible is a bad thing. I mean, I don't want to set up a straw man here: I understand that for many poets - and for me, at times - writing truly means writing in a way that is difficult, simply because the poem is trying to grasp for something elusive. So the difficulty of the poem is just unavoidable, and not in any way artificially imposed. So "as possible" is the key part of the phrase above, I suppose.”

People Thinking Men Way Want Writing Trying Mean Littles Seems Difficult Talking Poet Keys Difficulty Phrases Bad Things Elusive Straws

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“Mahmoud Darwish wrote that "extreme clarity is a mystery." That sounds right to me. I don't want anyone hunting for anything ancillary to the true mystery. If that means risking being thought of as glib or dull or banal or stupid or whatever, I guess that will just have to be the way it is.”

Ifs Way Want Mean Sound Mystery Stupid Extremes Clarity Dull Hunting

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“I am intrigued and even moved by the idea of being right with the reader in the actuality that she or he is reading a poem. So the titles are an acknowledgment of the reality and value of that act in the world.”

World Ideas Reality Values Reading Reader Moved Titles Intrigued Actuality Acknowledgment

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“Somewhere back a whiskey or so ago I wrote that thinking was a real thing in the world, just like anything else. I mean that very literally, materially. And it's true about poems, too.”

Thinking World Mean Real Real Things Whiskey

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“Reading a poem is a real thing, a worthy thing. So to be there right with the reader at that moment is part of the effect of a title like "Poem for" something or other. Matt Rohrer does this a lot in his titles, and I think I might have gotten some of the idea to do this, or at least been reminded of how it can work, from his recent amazing books.”

Thinking Doe Book Ideas Real Moments Might Reading Effects Reader Worthy Titles That Moment Real Things Amazing Book Worthy Things

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“Today, we can tell people we have a testing process and facilities in place on a nationwide basis.”

People Today Process Bases Testing Facility

Author:Mike Johanns