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Louise Mathias

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United Kingdom

Genre

Poetry

Influences

Louise Gluck, H.D., C.D. Wright, Philip Larkin, Linda Gregg, Brenda Hi ...more

Member Since

October 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/louisemathias

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Louise Mathias was born in 1975 in Bedford, England, and grew up in a small village in Suffolk, England, and later, Los Angeles. Her first book, Lark Apprentice, won the 2003 New Issues Poetry Prize and was published in 2004 by New Issues Press. A chapbook, Above All Else, the Trembling Resembles a Forest, was selected by Martha Ronk for the Burnside Review Chapbook contest, was published in 2010. Poems have appeared in journals such as Denver Quarterly, Triquarterly, Massachusetts Review, Crazyhorse, Prairie Schooner, Hunger Mountain, Epoch, Octopus, The Journal, Green Mountains Review, Slope, Verse Daily, and many others. Her second book, The Traps, is forthcoming from Four Way Books.

Combine Editions
Louise Mathias’s books

Average rating: 4.44 · 122 ratings · 20 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Lark Apprentice 4.44 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 2004	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Traps 4.31 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Above All Else, the Trembling Resembles a Forest 4.85 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What if the Invader Is Beautiful? 4.50 avg rating — 12 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lark Apprentice [Paperback] [March 2004] (Author) Louise Mathias 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Louise Mathias…

Louise is Currently Reading

Louise is currently reading

The Mojave: A Portrait of the Definitive American Desert

by David Darlington

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Nov 03, 2018 02:17PM

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Certain Magical Acts (Penguin Poets)

by Alice Notley

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Sep 20, 2016 05:07PM

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The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky (Pulitzer Prize Finalist)

by Ellen Meloy

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Nov 03, 2018 02:18PM

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Louise’s Recent Updates

Louise is now friends with Mamie Morgan
Feb 15, 2024 10:21AM · like

More of Louise's books…

Louise’s Quotes

“The secret of poetry is cruelty.”
― Jon Anderson

4 likes

“Your face is a secret. Hiss, Hiss.”
― Larissa Szporluk

1 likes

“Perhaps I write for no one. Perhaps for the same person children are writing for when they scrawl their names in the snow.”
― Margaret Atwood

tags: writing

919 likes

“I am suggesting that the radical of poetry lies not in the
resolution of doubts but in their proliferation”
― C.D. Wright, Cooling Time: An American Poetry Vigil

tags: poetry

26 likes

“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
― Virginia Woolf

3186 likes

More of Louise’s quotes…

recent posts
Louise’s Groups

¡ POETRY ! — 22610 members — last activity Nov 19, 2025 04:25PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read it!) Goodreads honors wordsmiths: poets and poetry promoted and prompted here. ~~~ "Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." -- Carl Sandburg “God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton On Clouds – “…what primitive tastes the ancients must have had if their poets were inspired by those absurd, untidy clumps of mist, idiotically jostling one another about…” —Yevgeny Zamyatin “If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. If the poet doesn’t wish to revise, let the poet abandon poetry and take up stamp-collecting or real estate.” —Donald Hall “Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation’s tears in shoulder blades.” —Boris Pasternak “Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.” —Charles Simic “Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.” —Gustave Flaubert “Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” —Allen Ginsberg. ~~~~~ Amy King, Moderator Amy King is the recipient of the 2015 Winner of the WNBA Award (Women’s National Book Association). Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize. She serves on the executive board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and is co-editing with Heidi Lynn Staples the anthology, Big Energy Poets of the Anthropocene: When Ecopoets Think Climate Change. She is also co-editing the anthology, Bettering American Poetry 2015, and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College. ...more

PotLatch Poetry — 53 members — last activity Nov 08, 2009 06:35PM
Exchange poetry books, chapbooks, journals and ephemera. PotLatch Poetry promotes an exchange economy surrounding poetry books, chapbooks, journals a ...more

Black Oceanographers — 238 members — last activity Dec 14, 2010 12:38PM
This group is designed to discuss books published by Black Ocean, receive updates on publications and get news on author events. All are welcome, only ...more

Poetry Readers Challenge — 646 members — last activity Nov 27, 2025 03:19AM
Let's talk about poetry books. This group's members read poetry collections, with the goal of reviewing twenty in a year. C'mon. Do it. It's good for ...more

Louise’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-9) post a comment »

date

newest »

message 9: by Anastasia

Oct 24, 2012 09:52PM

Hi Louise,

good to be friends.

A.

reply | flag

message 8: by Anne

Apr 14, 2009 08:34AM

Have you read MIchael Smith's first poetry collection, How To Make a Mummy? I would heartily recommend it.

reply | flag

message 7: by Jeannie

Sep 15, 2008 05:25PM

Louise, you have such an interesting bio. Thanks for the add. If you have time, I'd love for you to visit my web site, www.jeanniebarber.com. I'm a novice writer so feel free to make any kind of suggestions, ideas or thoughts to correct it. I’m co-authoring a novel with Patty Wiseman, another friend on Goodreads. We’ve known each other for over 30 years. While you're there, please sign the guestbook, too! There’s also a link to our book you can click on…clairkelley@synthasite.com. This site is brand new and in the editing stage as is our story. Please visit it as well. We’re both very green, but we’ve met so many people on this site willing to reach out and offer advice or a guiding hand.
Thanks,
Jeannie

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message 6: by Annie

Sep 15, 2008 03:14PM

Hi, Thanks for connecting through books.

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message 5: by Kelly

Feb 05, 2008 06:12PM

Your book sounds like a great read. You might like my poetry/short stories book. Thanks for the add! Pleasure to meet you!
Kelly Moran
http://home.wi.rr.com/kellymoran
XXXOOO

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message 4: by Louise

Jan 27, 2008 10:07AM

Thanks Talia!

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message 3: by Talia

Jan 25, 2008 06:23PM

Hey Louise. I just read your poem on Anti. Good stuff!

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message 2: by Louise

Jan 24, 2008 09:30PM

yep, still there. Cool place, eh?

reply | flag

message 1: by Anthony

Jan 08, 2008 01:12AM

Hi Louise,

Thanks for making the connection. It has been a while since I was in LB. Is the Library Cafe still there on 4th Street?

All the best in 2008!
Anthony

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