Local poet and writer J. Matthew Smtih’s new book, 2-5-24: Ugly Poems and Hideous Tales from an Illegitimate Man, has just been released by 1120 Press. The new book is a collection of poems, short stories, and essays, 2-5-24… examines life’s relationships and subtleties that impact us more significantly than we might think. This is the third book by Smith, a veteran journalist who for more than two decades covered state politics, crime, and environmental issues.
Born and raised in Buffalo NY, J. Matthew Smith worked 20 years as a journalist, covering everything from crime to the military to New York state politics. He is the author of Jailed by May Father: Tales of Tough Love, Bad Hair Cuts and O.J. (Red Roach/Manual Press, 2007). Smith also is co-author of ‘Stay Away from Lions’ — a black comedy crime noir novel set in Buffalo (No Frills Buffalo, 2016), written with Patrick Reynolds. 2-5-24 Ugly Poems and Hideous Tales from an Illegitimate Man from 1120 Press marks the independent publishing house’s inaugural launch. A resident of Albany, NY, Smith is also a contributing editor and photographer for Alternative Incite, an internationally distributed ‘Zine published by Butter Lamb Press, and works regularly as a content editor for various authors. In his spare time he co-hosts The Smartest Guy in the Room podcast available on Apple, Spotify, and Google podcasts. Smith’s photography can be seen at mattsmithimages.com
2-5-24: Ugly Poems and Hideous Tales from an Illegitimate Man is available at 1120press.com, shoptbmbooks.com, the Market Block Books in Troy, and The Book House in Albany.
