Dr. Matthew Ussia and host KC O'Day on the set of Fox 8 News Now
My morning talk show debut is on the web. I talk about my reading at St Francis on Friday, my dissertation, DIY punk, and Catholic social teaching
Part 1: www.fox8tv.com/newspost/mat...
Part 2: www.fox8tv.com/newspost/sat...
Photo of a newspaper clipping of Kristofer Collins's review of Saturday Night on Earth, which is unfortunately pay walled
My book got reviewed in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Poet Matthew Ussia reading in Fungus Books and Records
Poet Matthew Ussia reading at Greenhouse Cider and Plants Co-op
I had the opportunity to celebrate the launch of Saturday Night on Earth twice this month. I have several readings in the works for 2026.
Flyer a reading on Sunday December 7th at 2:00 p.m. at 557 Greenfield Avenue. The reading features Julie Cicchini Sarah Williams-Devereaux, Kimberly McElhatten and Matthew Ussia
Flyer for reading at Fungus Books at 700 1/2 Trenton Ave on Thursday December 11th at 7:00 p.m. featuring Matt Ussia, Ed Steck, and Judith Dorian
I have 2 readings coming up in the next week to celebrate the launch of Saturday Night on Earth. I will have 7 copies of the book at both readings. If you want to get one from me, this is your chance
My second book of poetry Saturday Night on Earth, 57 shocking true tales of music geekdom and Pittsburgh DIY shenanigans, is now in the world. The link to all the links where you can preview and purchase:
www.matthewussia.com/2025/11/18/s...
The front cover of Matthew Ussia's 2025 poetry collection Saturday Night on Earth. Imagine is a black and white photo of a singer and crowd at a basement punk show
Back cover of the poetry book Saturday Night on Earth. Blurbs "Matthew Ussia has a gift for capturing the liberation of punk and the depth of human experience in a subculture. Saturday Night on Earth made me laugh and it made me miss my friends no longer with us. It is deeply moving to read this collection of poems that evoke the visceral feeling of being seen in the collective outside, reading clear, honest portrayals of a punk community that has shaped my life and the lives of countless other misfits." - Jim Fair (Big Baby & Positive Thinking) “Ussia’s writing opens a crack just wide enough into our secret liminal space to intrigue the uninitiated and to hopefully frighten away any tourists without the constitution for carnage and noise. Those of us who exist in this parallel universe are immediately drawn in as we recognize our own secret language and customs. This collection of ephemeral spaces, worlds built and burned in a night and those with the unwavering compulsion to wake up and do it again is a testament to Ussia’s love and respect for our community.” -Krystina Haberman (Peace Talks) “In Saturday Night on Earth, the mad professor Matthew Ussia generously invites us to tag along with him on a tour of Pittsburgh’s record stores, smoke-clogged dives, and punk shows that barely have a venue, seeking out that thing that makes us most feel alive—noise! What some people call music and what others refuse to call music. In these poems, Ussia captures what it is to be an obsessed audiowhore living in this fucked up 21st century mess, sacrificing sleep for a great show, knowing that one night of experiencing live music can change one’s life forever. ” –Scott Silsbe, author of Meet Me Where We Survive
Out 11/17/25 on Alien Buddha Press" shocking true tales of Pittsburgh punk and my lifetime of music fandom
Happy Friday everyone, I have a new poem up at MadSwirl about buying groceries and the joy of recognizing the humanity of others
madswirl.com/poetry/2025/...
The true story of my first car is in the new issue of Trailer Park Quarterly
trailerparkquarterly.com/volume-16/ma...
Freudian slip, obviously
Also, the story is called "You Have to Talk to Mary Anne" not what I said
I am ready to contend that through this story we can collectively ascend to a state of self-awareness, justifying a name change of the city to "Postpittsburgh"
"You Have to Talk to Mary Jane" might just be the Pittsburghiest short story by a Pittsburgh writer that ever Pittsburghed
First 2 stories are really good. I want to read it fast, but I shouldn't
I can't wait to read it! Access all those secret rooms in your brain. It's like Wolfgang Iser said, no form of art gives the user access to the maker's mind like literature
Indeed. There's no escape
A copy of my prisoner and other stories by Tyler McCandrew, and a small white dog named Libby in a kitchen
Yooooo
A copy of my prisoner and other stories by Tyler McCandrew, and a small white dog named Libby in a kitchen
Yooooo
Yes. No need to send nudes anymore. Soon everyone will have already seen everything already
Same
I know I gotta believe, but it's hard not to be a Mets agnostic
Flier for Oddmonth Reading Series at Bantha Tea Bar at 5002 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 7 PM featuring Angele Ellis, Matthew Ussia, and Nikki Allen
Flyer for cider and plants greenhouse poetry reading and open mic on Sunday June 1st at 2:00 p.m. at 557 Greenfield Ave, Pittsburgh featuring Joan Bauer, Jan Beatty, Ziggy Echenrode, and Matthew Ussia
Come see me read at Oddmonth Saturday night, follow me to Spirit for one of the two shows there, talk to me in between bands, and then see me read Sunday afternoon at the Cider and Plants Co-Op.
I won't be repeating poems between both readings
If you scroll to the bottom you can see me do a thing I do sometimes
open.substack.com/pub/thecazar...
😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
Flier made out of felt cut outs for a show featuring Odor Eater, Hammered Hulls, Big Baby, and Theremonster
Playing a show tomorrow night (Thursday, May 8th) at Government Center with Odor Eater, Hammered Hulls, and Big Baby.
I go on at 8
I graduated college in 1999, and sometimes I think my nostalgia for being a student is wrapped up in how that era of my life was the last time the world outside of my home made sense.
Happy Monday Morning,
I got a new poem up at a publication I've thought it would be cool to be in for a long time asitoughttobemagazine.com/matthew-ussi...
The front cover of Volume 6 of the Northern Appalachia Review, a landscape painting in an impressionist style
Proud to have my work inside the new issue of the Northern Appalachia Review.
Excited that my poem "Loretto: The Triggering Town" is on page 1, because everyone who picks up a copy has to read page 1, right?!
you ever think about how we’re all just farting in outer space?
Very excited to be interviewed about my forthcoming book in @ksupress.bsky.social’s blog! Like early modern stuff? Care about feelings? Want to know why we should study lit? Check out the post (and in May, my book)!
