This exceptional debut collection from Carlo Matos touches upon such subjects as family, heritage, identity, and the stories that are passed down through generations. He creates a beautiful yet unsettling, surreal world in his poetry that captures the attention of even the most jaded audience. Matos uses his heritage as a native of the Azores Archipelago and holds it up for all to see through odd relations and captivating poetry that utilizes many aspects of the island.
“Animal, vegetable, or mineral? You never know quite what to expect in A School for Fishermen by Carlo Matos. Populated with distant (and distanced) relatives, not-so-clandestine aggairs, and a lemur, Matos conflates the bestial, natural world with the human—characters with “stingers like pigtails” and string theory mashed with marsh gas. Unafraid to look into the vastness of existence, Matos often arrives at the somber—always “one short of the solution,” where “the keys don’t catch.” Yet for Matos, somehow everything “ends in repair”, bringing us, dear reader, hope”
—Brandi Homan
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