How We Play At It

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

The poems in Matt Robinson’s second collection are infused with
passion, intelligence, and wit. The book is divided into four parts.
Part 1 deals mainly with “things he plays at,” including sports and
his early life; he draws comparisons between love and relationships and
the game of hockey. Part 2, “Personal Mythologies,” begins with 10
poems that tell the story of two people. Robinson gets into the minds
and hearts of both characters, and the story becomes more alive, the
emotions more tangible, with each reading.

Part 3, “Familial Semaphores,” explores the poet’s life with his
parents. In his first collection, he dealt in a heart-wrenching manner
with the illness and death of his mother. These poems concentrate more
on his relationship with his father. The poems in Part 4 relate to love
and relationships. Robinson often uses the kitchen as a source of
inspiration and finds understanding and answers in dishwater.

Robinson runs creative-writing workshops and has published poetry in
both Canadian and international journals.