Other poets attending the event and reading selections from their own work include Vincent Casaregola, Kelli Allen, Jessica Freeman, Kim Lozano, and Mary Ann Kelly.

Critics have high praise for Freeman’s poetry:

“Gritty and real, full of personality (and personalities), urban St. Louis scenery and experience”— J. Gordon, Nightimes.com

“Simultaneously hip, funny, and sad”—Dorothea Grossman, Poet

“A microscope into the world of an extraordinarily talented schizophrenic”—Suzanne Shenkman

Matthew Freeman’s poems explore the difficulty of navigating and making peace with an environment that is both mentally and physically confusing. For many years Matthew struggled with mental illness and his experiences have fed his unique perspective. Thanks to the newest treatments, he is able to give voice to subjects that in the past would have been consigned to silence. His home of St. Louis, Missouri provides the setting for many of his poems and is a constant source of inspiration.

Matthew Freeman discovered he was a poet in high school, at the outset of a tumultuous time that would eventually see him hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia. After he began his recovery, he went on to graduate from Saint Louis University, where he was twice awarded The Montesi Prize for his poems. The Boulevard of Broken Discourse is his fourth published collection. He is Poet in Residence at Adapt, Missouri.

The Boulevard of Broken Discourse is available in Kindle ($4.95) and print editions on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, and Amazon Japan. Bookstores and libraries can purchase books wholesale by contacting info@coffeetownpress.com, Ingram, or Baker & Taylor. Libraries may also contact Follett Library Resources and Midwest Library Services.

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