Aidan Heavey Library reading
Alongside brilliant Irish poets, Amy Barry, Catherine Ronan, and D’or Seifer in one of the warmest, most convivial crowds that ever threatened a library’s hush. With accompanying vocals by Liadh, and guitar by Patrick Stefan, I read excerpts from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures” and so we rode the rollercoaster of emotion together, new friends, comrades of craft.
Books Upstairs: The glittering jewel in the crown of Irish bookstores
I was delighted to join some of the world’s best poets, Amy Barry, Polina Cosgrave, Caitriona Lane, and Catherine Ronan who also hosted this reading that ranged from the joys of love to the heartbreaking losses of war. Musical accompaniment lured pedestrians from the street: vocals by Liadh; harp by Brenda Malloy, guitar by Patrick Stefan. An overwhelmingly positive and beautiful experience, a homecoming five generations in the making.
Leadership Loading Podcast:
From Warships to Bestseller
With gratitude to Jason McClaren at Leadership Loading for conducting this interview – available as an apple podcast or on Youtube. A candid convo about the transition from warrior to writer: the former sucks the emotional out of language. The latter makes it dirty once more.
Living the Next Chapter - podcast - E537
Dialogue with Dave Campbell on writing and Afghanistan: “I’ll be born again as many times as required.” Someone needs to speak into this rare, fraught moment where Canadian service appears forgotten by our allies. We will not forget - I wrote it all down, with excerpts from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures.”
Royal Military College reading in Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Addressing a group of senior officers about inter-element abuse, the evolution of the harassment-complaint system in the Canadian Armed Forces, the treatment of women within the military, and without. Meticulously coordinated by Major Craig Scott, you’ll note the shrine he built to a fallen soldier, nameless. The coffee was complimentary, and the excerpts from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures” were particularly spicy.
You Talk We Taco - Bamm’s Snack Shack
“In my darkest hour, The God o’ Tasty Moss made my pain delicious.” The culinary artists of Bamm’s created bespoke tacos based on images from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures.” So naturally, I wrote homages to the tacos, while curating an open mic of some of Ottawa’s best writers, so that both body and spirit might be nurtured.
Hosted by David Currie, I spoke alongside Emily Austin and Georgia Toews, incredibly successful writers. Wildly disparate, our three books are all tangled in grief and somehow hilarious. I was honoured to be invited, to share the stage with giants, to throw my heart into an excerpt of “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures.”
Canadian Intelligence, Eh? Interview/Podcast
In this candid (delightfully belligerent) exchange with Phil Gurski, a 30-year veteran of Canadian Intelligence, we wax geopolitical on the return of the Taliban (Jihadist Nutbar Wankers, says Phil). in Afghanistan, the decay of US/Canadian relations, and the future of drone war. Accountability, technological distance, and the way it all seemed like a video game: who’s doing the killing? And is the way we milk and exploit the edges of new tech ethical? With excerpts from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures,” the interview is available at the link above.
Bodies of Work Paris - Book Launch, Zine Launch, Birth
We made an association of beautiful misfits. Culture is a feather in our caps, not a club with which we beat each other. Community is for helping humans, not for domination, not for the propping of egos. Despite our shadows, we’ve accepted ourselves and each other, and we’d accept you, too.
A mixed-media evening of poetry, prose, music, with excerpts from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures.” Significantly, Bodies of Work Paris produced their first zine: a polyphonic multi-media creation that explores the theme of “the body” with both wryness and candour.
Book Launch at SciencesPo (Paris, France)
My outrageous colleague, Malik Ameer Crumpler, opened the interview with a volley: “How would your main character feel about the geopolitical situation between Canada and the USA?” To the shock/awe/horror of the student-attendees, we dove in, sharing excerpts from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures” and touching, meaningfully, on the theme of love. Video excerpts to follow!
World Radio Paris Interview: Turning War into Words
Killer robots, dehumanization, and an exploration of the oldest war – the one between men and women. An early morning discussion with excerpts from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures.” This radio show was masterfully edited, with great questions from Alex Brooklynn, artiste extraordinaire. Grateful for the opportunity to repair bridges between our cultures; we find common ground on the subject of peace.
Words and Warriors: Matt Jones on Crafting Stories and Strength
This 40-minute podcast, helpfully linked in the subject line above, brings civilian listeners deeper into the military world with a light touch. Featuring a mythological excerpt from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures” as well as discussions on monsters, strength, geopolitics.
Layers of Storytelling with Creative Mornings (Paris)
Creative Mornings is a world-wide initiative that brings together inspiring speakers monthly. To a crowd of 50 gathered over coffee and croissant at Focus – Le Remix in Paris, I spoke on the theme of layers. Language. Class. Writing. But most importantly, love. At one point, reading an excerpt from “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures,” I even broke into song. Watch the full reading at the link in the title.
The Art of Drone Warfare: Interview and Book Talk at L’Air Arts (Paris)
Hosted by the generous Malik Ameer Crumpler, in the historic Atelier 11, we discussed my upcoming book, “Predators, Reapers and Deadlier Creatures,” and I performed several excerpts. Since Malik and I are both professors of creative writing, and there were many student-writers in the audience, most of his questions were geared towards the craft of writing itself: Where did that last line come from? We shared a surprising number of laughs. See for yourself: the interview is available in its entirety at the link above.
Embodied Poetry and the Parisian Avant-Garde at L’AiR Arts
Combining the media of dance, spoken word, and theatre, this event was based on the writing and life of Anna Akhmatova, Guillaume Apollinaire, Blaise Cendrars, and other legends of the Parisian avant-garde. Memorably, as Hiie Saumaa, in the hummingbird dress, animated the language through dance, the other performers read aloud the works of the feature artists. Stephanie Nadalo, second from the right, and I combined forces in the subterranean media haven, aka basement; she projected and explained historical slides; I supplemented with spoken word.
Thirst: Show and Tell
Originally founded by Grace Bialeckie (in photo) and Alex Brooklynn in NYC, this storytelling event was hosted in Paris. Expanding on an old theme, storytellers including Malik Crumpler and Katie Lazaro, used tangible objects (in my case a collage of paper snowflakes) to ground their language-making. I told the story of Bruno Franceschi, who battled cancer, survived, and would eventually found Bodies of Work Paris, through the lens of how inconvenient his cancer was for me; he laughed despite the stitches. May our snowflakes never melt.
Vasyl Grubliak, Ukrainian artist, reassembled an exploded Russian rocket fired at his hometown. This time he dangled the dangerous shards from the ceiling of Atelier 11 in Paris. Many profound conversations happened under the shrapnel, including a talk by Anya Neistat, legal director of “The Docket” at the Clooney Foundation, on the theme of war crimes. The link above will take you to my performance, pertaining to “craters” – how can we live with them?
“Strong Words” with New Writing South in Brighton, England
PLU Presents: The Aeneid
La Vie Creative Paris (Interview) Dec 2022
Poetry Brothel, M9000 the Gigolo Lovebot, Paris, France
Spokenword, feature reader in Paris, France
The Sawdust Reading Series, Ottawa, Canada
Tree Reading Series Ottawa, Canada
Paris Lit Up, feature reader in Paris, France
Readings:
Books Upstairs, Dublin, Ireland: 8 June 2025
Aidan Heavey Library, Athlone, Ireland: 10 June 2025
Leadership Loading - E135 “From Warships to Bestseller” - 19 May 2025.
Living the Next Chapter - E537: 12 May 2025.
Royal Military College: 7 May 2025.
Canadian Intelligence, Eh?: Podcast 5 May 2025.
You Talk We Taco - Poetry/Prose at Bamm’s Snack Shack: 5 May 2025.
Ottawa International Writers’ Festival: 4 May 2025.
Bodies of Work Paris - Book Launch: 26 April 2025.
SciencesPo Book Launch: 24 April 2025.
World Radio Paris - Turning War into Words: 8 April 2025.
Interview with Grace Bialecki @ the WriteTime Workshop (International): 30 March 2025.
La Vie Creative: Interview. “Words and Warriors: Matt Jones on Crafting Stories and Strength.” 26 March 2025.
Layers of Storytelling with Creative Mornings (Paris) 28 Feb 2025
The Art of Drone Warfare: Interview and Book Talk at L’Air Arts 26 Oct 2024
Embodied Poetry and the Parisian Avant-Garde: A reading and performance at L’Air Arts 18 Jan 2024
Thirst: Show and Tell: a paper snowflake. 30 July 2023
“Conversations Beneath the Shrapnel.” A reading and panel discussion at L’AiR Arts. 4 Mar 2023
Paris Writers’ Workshop: Panel Discussion on “Migration and the Arts.” 1 July 2022
Reframing: a reading at the École-Militaire to memorialize the victims of terorrist attacks in France. Paris, 10 March 2022
La Vie Creative (Interview): 21 Dec 2022
The Dive-in part 2: Can Words Heal the Earth. 3 June 2021
Thirst 13 September 2020
PLU Presents: The Aeneid 12 July 2020
The Dive-in 2.1: International Live Stream for the Seas (Marine Life fundraiser) 10 May 2020
PLU Presents March - June 2020
Strong Words, New Writing South, Brighton, England 30 March 2019
Paris Lit Up Tour, England. 23 March 2019 - 1 April 2019
“Monsters” SpokenWord Paris Reading Series, Paris, France. 27 February 2019
The Poetry Brothel, Paris, France. 28 October 2018
100,000 Poets for Change, Paris, France. 29 September 2018
Paris Lit Up Tour, England. 23 March 2018 - 1 April 2018
Paris Lit Up, Paris, France. 13 April 2017
SpokenWord Paris Reading Series, Paris, France. 27 February 2017
Open Secret Reading Series, Paris, France. 17 August, 2016
Sawdust Reading Series, Ottawa, Canada. 15 April, 2016
Tree Reading Series, Ottawa, Canada. 9 December, 2014
Arc Poetry, North issue launch, Ottawa, Canada. 26 November, 2013
In/Words Reading Series, Ottawa, Canada. 27 March, 2013
VERSeFest, Ottawa, Canada. 13 March, 2013