Matthew Nisinson
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mnisinson.bsky.social
Matthew Nisinson
@mnisinson.bsky.social
(He/him) poet/bureaucrat with poems out in Bullshit Lit, en*gendered lit, Los Angeles Review, Novus Literary, Southern Humanities Review, and others. Currently working on a deep dive project focused on Catullus 85.

On Instagram as lepidum_novum_libellum
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Ancient Exchanges journal of literary translations of ancient texts just put put their latest issue, Beyond, which includes 7 versions of Catullus 85 from my Catullus 85 manuscript! Check them out (and the rest of this amazing issue!) here exchanges.uiowa.edu/axbeyond-nis...

#ancientbluesky #poetry
AX25: centered Versions of Catullus 85 — Exchanges
exchanges.uiowa.edu
Poetry folks, can you recommend me some good essays/criticism about the works of Claude McKay?
November 27, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by Matthew Nisinson
My review of Mary Jo Bang’s translation of Paradiso is up now @therumpus.net !!! Check it out!
“Bang’s translation honors Dante’s goal to support a broad readership, while her detailed notes convey the depth of scholarship and understanding that position her to do so.”

Matthew Nisinson (@mnisinson.bsky.social) reviews Mary Jo Bang's translation of Dante's Paradiso.

➡️ buff.ly/De6vEvk
November 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Matthew Nisinson
“Bang’s translation honors Dante’s goal to support a broad readership, while her detailed notes convey the depth of scholarship and understanding that position her to do so.”

Matthew Nisinson (@mnisinson.bsky.social) reviews Mary Jo Bang's translation of Dante's Paradiso.

➡️ buff.ly/De6vEvk
November 22, 2025 at 7:02 PM
My review of Mary Jo Bang’s translation of Paradiso is up now @therumpus.net !!! Check it out!
“Bang’s translation honors Dante’s goal to support a broad readership, while her detailed notes convey the depth of scholarship and understanding that position her to do so.”

Matthew Nisinson (@mnisinson.bsky.social) reviews Mary Jo Bang's translation of Dante's Paradiso.

➡️ buff.ly/De6vEvk
November 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
My October Round-Up is a little late but finally up on my blog. It’s got poetry, translation, art, and some music. I’ve included brief thoughts on each work. Let me know your favorites and if anything I shared makes you think of something else I should read.
October 2025 Round-Up
This Round-Up has been sitting in a half-finished limbo for the past two weeks, my apologies for the delay. Looking back at last year, there seems to be something about October/November that makes …
nisinson.wordpress.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Reposted by Matthew Nisinson
My September post is up on the blog. It was a weird September, with a lot to think about. A lot of great poetry, art and thinking from some brilliant people, paired with some of my humble thoughts. Also a good photo of my cat.

What art stood out to you in September?
September 2025 Round-Up
September has been a month of contemplation and recharge for me, I made significant headway on a number of books that I’ve been reading more slowly over the course of the year, as I try to balance …
nisinson.wordpress.com
October 5, 2025 at 2:39 PM
My September post is up on the blog. It was a weird September, with a lot to think about. A lot of great poetry, art and thinking from some brilliant people, paired with some of my humble thoughts. Also a good photo of my cat.

What art stood out to you in September?
September 2025 Round-Up
September has been a month of contemplation and recharge for me, I made significant headway on a number of books that I’ve been reading more slowly over the course of the year, as I try to balance …
nisinson.wordpress.com
October 5, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Matthew Nisinson
August 2025 Round-Up is finally live on my blog! Check it out for links to great poems and art that I read in August. Let me know if you have recommendations for me, too!
August 2025 Round-Up
Photo by Matthew Nisinson Once again, summer is almost over as we head into September and a new school year. This is the time of year I often find myself thinking about how endless summer felt to m…
nisinson.wordpress.com
September 13, 2025 at 3:05 PM
August 2025 Round-Up is finally live on my blog! Check it out for links to great poems and art that I read in August. Let me know if you have recommendations for me, too!
August 2025 Round-Up
Photo by Matthew Nisinson Once again, summer is almost over as we head into September and a new school year. This is the time of year I often find myself thinking about how endless summer felt to m…
nisinson.wordpress.com
September 13, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I just attended this fantastic panel on the politics of translation @brooklyninstitute.bsky.social . Really great listening to @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social Lynn Kozak and James Redfield discuss their approaches to translation with Lauren K. Wolfe! www.youtube.com/live/Rdr1KLz...
The Politics of Translation
YouTube video by The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research
www.youtube.com
September 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Recommend me some reads for what summer remains!
My round-up for July is up on my blog, a lot of great poetry, writing and art that I recommend, with some extended thoughts about much of it, particularly translation. Would love to hear what art has moved you lately, let me know! nisinson.wordpress.com/2025/08/03/j...
July 2025 Round-Up
Photo by Matthew Nisinson I find myself looking back on a pretty productive first half of July, with a lot of family stuff, from the perspective of the tedious ill-health that characterized the sec…
nisinson.wordpress.com
August 14, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Great thread with a strong applicability to literature considered to be part of any canon, not just SFF.

Also, these books are there to inform YOUR individual taste. As a reader, you’ll grow a personal canon, evolving over time. That’s good, don’t let others tell you who you must be.
This is absolutely true. It is also true, IMO, that once something is sufficiently entrenched as a "classic" its quality becomes a moot point, not actually relevant. It is so much a part of the literary context that ideas about
I need folks to know "classics are classic for a reason" re: creative work is not the great argument you think it is, mostly because it leaves entirely unexamined the *reasons* some things persist in culture, of which "quality," subjective in any event, is only one reason and often not the main one.
August 11, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Matthew Nisinson
My round-up for July is up on my blog, a lot of great poetry, writing and art that I recommend, with some extended thoughts about much of it, particularly translation. Would love to hear what art has moved you lately, let me know! nisinson.wordpress.com/2025/08/03/j...
July 2025 Round-Up
Photo by Matthew Nisinson I find myself looking back on a pretty productive first half of July, with a lot of family stuff, from the perspective of the tedious ill-health that characterized the sec…
nisinson.wordpress.com
August 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
My round-up for July is up on my blog, a lot of great poetry, writing and art that I recommend, with some extended thoughts about much of it, particularly translation. Would love to hear what art has moved you lately, let me know! nisinson.wordpress.com/2025/08/03/j...
July 2025 Round-Up
Photo by Matthew Nisinson I find myself looking back on a pretty productive first half of July, with a lot of family stuff, from the perspective of the tedious ill-health that characterized the sec…
nisinson.wordpress.com
August 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
My wife surprised me with a copy of @aestallings.bsky.social translation of The Battle between the Frogs and the Mice, a perfect gift. Stallings’ translation flows wonderfully. I love the persona of the scholar A. Nony Mouse. Grant Silverstein’s illustrations make a fantastic addition to the poem.
July 26, 2025 at 2:15 PM
So far, gotten two rejections, but one of them included some kind words about how engaging my subject matter and approach are. Calling it a win
Starting to send out queries for my Catullus 85 manuscript. I’m doing my best to overcome the desire to make the perfect query and thus never query until it’s perfect. They can’t say “yes” if you don’t ask, I remind myself, as I worry they can’t say “no” until I ask, either.
July 19, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Whirlwind trip to the poetry festival has been completed. Great to see all the poets, and pick up more poetry books to add to my overburdened ‘to read’ shelf. Now enjoying the modern miracle of air conditioning
Who else is at NYC Poetry Festival today?
July 13, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Who else is at NYC Poetry Festival today?
July 13, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Starting to send out queries for my Catullus 85 manuscript. I’m doing my best to overcome the desire to make the perfect query and thus never query until it’s perfect. They can’t say “yes” if you don’t ask, I remind myself, as I worry they can’t say “no” until I ask, either.
July 6, 2025 at 8:20 PM
June 2025 Round-Up is posted to my blog, featuring some great poetry, writing, and other art that I experienced in June! What did you love in June? nisinson.wordpress.com/2025/07/03/j...
June 2025 Round-Up
Selfie by Matthew Nisinson And suddenly 2025 is half over. June was a hot month, and an eventful month (haven’t they all been? How relaxing would an uneventful month be? Can you picture it? Maybe u…
nisinson.wordpress.com
July 6, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Matthew Nisinson
Ancient Exchanges journal of literary translations of ancient texts just put put their latest issue, Beyond, which includes 7 versions of Catullus 85 from my Catullus 85 manuscript! Check them out (and the rest of this amazing issue!) here exchanges.uiowa.edu/axbeyond-nis...

#ancientbluesky #poetry
AX25: centered Versions of Catullus 85 — Exchanges
exchanges.uiowa.edu
July 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Matthew Nisinson
Hi! We're Aôthen, a magazine that publishes a wide range of work on the ancient Mediterranean. We aim to make classics more accessible for all through creative expression. You can read our previous issues & learn more about us here:

buff.ly/3gjRWQG
Aôthen Magazine
A literary magazine devoted to the world of classics.
buff.ly
July 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Relatedly, can anyone recommend guidance on the process of querying publishers for poetry/translation manuscripts?
Ancient Exchanges journal of literary translations of ancient texts just put put their latest issue, Beyond, which includes 7 versions of Catullus 85 from my Catullus 85 manuscript! Check them out (and the rest of this amazing issue!) here exchanges.uiowa.edu/axbeyond-nis...

#ancientbluesky #poetry
AX25: centered Versions of Catullus 85 — Exchanges
exchanges.uiowa.edu
July 4, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Ancient Exchanges journal of literary translations of ancient texts just put put their latest issue, Beyond, which includes 7 versions of Catullus 85 from my Catullus 85 manuscript! Check them out (and the rest of this amazing issue!) here exchanges.uiowa.edu/axbeyond-nis...

#ancientbluesky #poetry
AX25: centered Versions of Catullus 85 — Exchanges
exchanges.uiowa.edu
July 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM