Matthew McGuirk – Fevers of the Mind

New book “Oil Stains Like Rorschachs” Out by Author Matthew McGuirk from Anxiety Press

Matthew McGuirk’s latest Hyrid Collection “Oil Stains Like Rorschachs” is now available from Anxiety Press which you can purchase on Amazon here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKMS59Y8

This is what some other great writers are saying about Matthew McGuirk’s new book.

In this collection, McGuirk establishes his reputation as one of the most celebrated short-story writers in modern American letters.

“McGuirk’s writing wraps around your heart like a snapped coolant belt from Brook’s Autos. Oil stains like Rorschachsassembles broken youths failed by their parent’s own expectations and failures. Bonded by oil spills and ink splatters these perfectly articulated misfits find the tools to repair not only the autos that bring them together but also themselves. Yet not everything or everyone can always be fixed.” — James Jenkins, author of Parochial Pigs

“Matt McGuirk’s latest hybrid collection is a masterclass in voice. Once you dive head first into Brooks’ School of Grease Monkeys, you won’t want to come up for air. The vivid cast of characters Matt creates draws you into their world, their lives, and their stories punctuated with poignant poetry. Blending realism and compassion, Matt’s crew will make you think, long after you close the book.” — Beth Mulcahy, Pushcart Prize nominated poet and writer

“Like Carver before him, McGuirk takes men from hardscrabble lives and humanises them using the soft edges we all possess, even if we hide them from view. This collection fits together like a purring, powerful engine.” — Scott Cumming Author of A Chapbook About Nothing and The Blue Chapbook

“Matthew McGuirk masters poetry and prose alike, and jumps from one to the other elegantly in this accomplished collection, offering us memories of various moments of a lifetime in varying flows of words and tones which mirrors the meandering of one introspective mind, that is sometimes detailed, sometimes economical, but always deep and compassionate with the author’s trademark witty bleakness that makes him such a delight to read.” — BF Jones, author of Something Happened at 2am

Here are some links to Matthew’s work here on Fevers of the Mind.

https://feversofthemind.com/2022/07/20/poetry-open-roads-and-roadblocks-from-matthew-mcguirk/

https://feversofthemind.com/2022/06/30/poetry-by-matthew-mcguirk-shelf-life/

https://feversofthemind.com/2022/05/31/a-grammarians-love-poetry-by-matthew-mcguirk/

https://feversofthemind.com/2022/05/02/poetry-a-rainy-day-by-matthew-mcguirk/

https://feversofthemind.com/2022/04/06/new-poem-tides-by-matthew-mcguirk/

https://feversofthemind.com/2021/12/17/a-book-review-of-daydreams-obsessions-realities-from-matthew-mcguirk-alien-buddha-press-review-by-matthew-da-silva/

https://feversofthemind.com/2021/12/09/a-fevers-of-the-mind-quick-9-interview-with-matthew-mcguirk/

Here is Matthew’s Linktree

https://linktr.ee/McGuirkMatthew

Twitter: @McGuirkMatthew Instagram: @mcguirk_matthew

Poetry: Open Roads and Roadblocks from Matthew McGuirk

Open Roads and Roadblocks
originally published in print with Spellbinder Magazine

Sun streaking a face full of melody,
hair dancing to the music of the wind and
sunglasses reflecting mirrors
on this brush-stroked morning.
Her hands playing the strings on my battered blue jeans and
our bodies clicking and jazzing along
with the weaving back road.

We had so many memories carved into dirt penciled trails like these:
quick yanks of the wheel because I looked too long,
a kiss lingering at five over
and wondering where the next station was
but not caring enough to google it.

Slam the brakes!
Shake up uncertainty!
There it sat.
The line stopped.
The road block
taking our momentum.
The wind taken out of her hair
and
no place to go,
just time to wait
with our memories
obstructed

Bio: Matt McGuirk teaches and lives with his wife and two daughters in New Hampshire. He was a BOTN 2021 nominee, is now a regular contributor at Fevers of the Mind and has poems and stories published in 50+ literary magazines with 100+ accepted pieces. His debut collection, Daydreams, Obsessions, Realities with Alien Buddha Press isavailable on Amazon, linked in the bio and also on his website.Follow him on Twitter: @McguirkMatthew and Instagram: @mcguirk_matthew.

Website: http://linktr.ee/McGuirkMatthew Daydreams, Obsessions, Realities: https://www.amazon.com/Daydreams-Obsessions-Realities-hybrid-collection/dp/B09M5KY8HH/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Matthew McGuirk

Poetry by Matthew McGuirk : Shelf Life

Poem originally published in Tattie Zine Issue 2

Shelf Life

The potatoes from the store
didn’t make it to a soup, the oven, or the fryer in time.
They sat too long on the counter, 
waiting for our attention.
The golden skin growing dark eyes to see the kitchen
and their gaze watched us wander by. 
They were soft and sprouted, 
no longer something of use. 
I threw them out the door
and kicked some dirt over them
to hide the evidence of neglect.
Soon, green shoots emerged;
new growth even in hard times.

Bio: Matt McGuirk teaches and lives with his wife and two daughters in New Hampshire. He was a BOTN 2021 nominee, is now a regular contributor at Fevers of the Mind and has poems and stories published in 50+ literary magazines with 100+ accepted pieces. His debut collection, Daydreams, Obsessions, Realities with Alien Buddha Press isavailable on Amazon, linked in the bio and also on his website.Follow him on Twitter: @McguirkMatthew and Instagram: @mcguirk_matthew.

Website: http://linktr.ee/McGuirkMatthew Daydreams, Obsessions, Realities: https://www.amazon.com/Daydreams-Obsessions-Realities-hybrid-collection/dp/B09M5KY8HH/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Matthew McGuirk

A Grammarian’s Love: Poetry by Matthew McGuirk

A Grammarian’s Love

I can’t write about you:
sentences don’t fall like your hair does,
fragments are too short to describe the big moments
and run-ons can’t even start on the small ones.
Transitions can’t bridge milestones
with any authenticity,
like the boxes from our last apartment shifting to our first house
or a ring that means so much
or our family expanding from 2 to 3 in the matter of hours
or 3 to 4 in just as long.
Exclamation points are nothing like your laugh
and semicolons connect clauses,
but it isn’t like your fingers in mine.
The only one that seems to make any sense is the question mark
because to me you are all the answers,
but maybe
I should just pick up photography
at this point.

Bio:

A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Matthew McGuirk

Poetry: A Rainy Day by Matthew McGuirk

A Rainy Day Racket of rooftop rain disappears down gutters and into streams so wide she jumps them with standing long jump arms. She pats unbaked pies sitting in puddles waist deep and smiles through a torrent that drowns out any squeals of joy. Other times, she grabs the umbrella and totes it around like Mary Poppins, singing, “a spoonful of sugar…” even though she knows those lyrics don’t match the umbrella scene. Somehow, her flowered raincoat doesn't get lost in that downpour and I learn before long, the only time rain makes kids sad is in that nursery rhyme we all sing for some reason.

A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Matthew McGuirk