WordSwell is a literary organization founded by a group of San Francisco Bay Area poets and writers brought together by Clive Matson, a Beat Generation direct expression lyric poet and creative writing teacher who mentored under Allen Ginsberg, Herbert Huncke, John Wieners, and Diane de Prima and who has published nine volumes of poetry, numerous articles in literary journals, and the writing textbook Let the Crazy Child Write! WordSwell began in 2008 to support the activities of local poets and has been involved in various activities through the years, such as the production of a quarterly mailer, The Scribbler, the sponsoring of writing programs and events, involvement in the Bay Area HipHop community, and figuring in the creation of An Eye For an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind — Poets on 9/11, an American poetry anthology of works by over 100 poets, which Clive Matson both helped edit and wrote the preface for, and which received the PEN Oakland National Writing Award in 2003.
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Current Publication:
Volume Seven, Summer 2025
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Deep, Heartfelt Honesty:
what WordSwell offers in facing the difficult world we now inhabit
In a world of increasing complexity, competition, and alienation, but also a world of unfolding possibilities, fulfilling experiences, and human connections, here you will find personal essays, stories, and poems that cut through the posturing, the commercializing, and the dehumanization. Our writing displays the vibrant energy of the creative unconscious, what WordSwell founder, Clive Matson, calls the "Voice of the Crazy Child," and aspires to the authenticity that William Carlos Williams describes, people "die miserably every day for lack of..." Humanity is desperately in need of revising its own soul. We all know this is true. WordSwell seeks to contribute to the conversation.
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WordSwell was founded by Bay Area poets and writers brought together by Clive Matson, a Beat Generation direct expression lyric poet and creative writing teacher who is looking to leave behind a haven for the literary and arts community.
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"The most personal
is the most universal." –Carl Rogers |
"Making the private world
public." –Allen Ginsberg |
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