We are so excited to announce the release of Shoes Last Longer in LA the debut poetry collection of Matt Schatz–one of HO’s newest writers. Read the interview below and check out this witty collection. Shoes Last Longer in LA is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org and wherever books are sold online. It’s also available in-store in Los Angeles at Vroman’s, Skylight and North Fig Bookshop.
1. Tell us about Matt Schatz (whatever you would like to share – personal, education, writing, etc.)
So, if anyone knew me before I published my poetry book Shoes Last Longer in LA, it was probably as a playwright and musical theater librettist, lyricist, and composer. Los Angeles people might have heard about (or seen) my controversial true-crime song cycle, A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill, which premiered at the Geffen Playhouse in LA a few summers ago. My play The Burdens, which was developed at the Eugene O’Neill New Play Conference, has become my most frequently produced work. I have a bunch of other old plays and musicals and a few more new ones. I have a musical satire called An Untitled New Play by Justin Timberlakeand a new weird, mostly made-up take on the origins of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol called The Past, a Present Yet to Come, which was recently published.
Like all the best writers, I was born and raised in New Jersey. I studied screenwriting at the recently and tragically shuttered University of the Arts in Philadelphia and got my MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University (which I’m pretty sure is still open).
I currently live in a rented two-bedroom house in LA’s Eagle Rock neighborhood with my brilliant librarian wife, Jenna, who works for the Television Academy, and our two very small, very cute daughters, both unemployed.
2. What inspired you to use poetry to tell your stories in this book? Was it a more comfortable vehicle than essays, plays, or songs?
Well, I do write songs. Of late, they’ve been primarily musical theater songs, but I did put out an album last year called I USED TO BE PRETTY, which I think only me and my mom have listened to. I wrote a new play in February called Atwater, which I’ve been sending out a little, but I don’t know if anyone will do it. I’m a TV writer by profession, but I’m pretty sure they’ve stopped making TV shows. I’m not sure I have the attention span to read an essay, let alone write one.
But writing the kinds of poems that appear in Shoes Last Longer in LA is my natural state of being. I write at least one a day. Most days I write more than one. So, like, two.
After I get my older daughter off to school, I watch the younger one. Many of these poems were written at playgrounds or play places, and maybe that’s why some are so short. If they were one word longer, I would have missed stopping my child from falling off of some sort of apparatus.
I’ve always been rhyme-obsessed. My mind just jumps at rhymes— which would be annoying if I weren’t so delighted by them. Rhyming and wordplay were the first things I was good at, and it’s probably still what I’m best at. I don’t know why poets for the most part stopped rhyming. I sometimes feel like they’ve chickened out. Though of course I love all poetry and I from time to time write modern, boring poems too.
I wrote poems as a little kid, and those morphed into rap songs in middle school, then back to poems in high school, and later into self-produced singer-songwriter albums in college and grad school. In New York, my playwriting and songwriting merged into weird, funny musicals. I won a big award called the Kleban Prize for one of those, Love Trapezoid. The money from the award allowed me to go west.
When I got to LA, for some reason, writing the poems became more purposeful and intentional. I used to carry around one of those Moleskine notebooks but couldn’t read my handwriting, so I started typing these little poems into the Notes app on my phone. I started posting them to social media at some point, and people started clicking “like.” I have a dedicated following!
Over my eleven years in LA—through the first Trump administration, parenthood, the pandemic, and the WGA Strike—writing poems became how I processed the world. I write poetry to make sense of things, to feel less insane, and to remind myself to appreciate being alive. And also for attention.
I realized I had more than enough for a decent collection about a year ago. I titled it Shoes Last Longer in LA, after one of the first poems I wrote after moving here from New York City. With editing help from Brandy Carie, a former Carnegie Mellon student of mine, and encouragement from my poet friend John Dorsey, the collection found a home with Spartan Press’s Kung Fu Treachery imprint and was released in September.
I write mostly small poems, but they’re not all about small things. Parenthood, pop culture, Jewish identity, and, of course, Los Angeles (and New York City). These are the book’s recurring themes. There are also at least two poems inspired by watching episodes of HGTV’s House Hunters.
Most of the poems are funny, but some are also sad, and some are acidic (not Hasidic, but maybe that too). Some of the poems are only one word long. But most of them are four or five lines long. Only one of them is longer than a page. When I start to read someone else’s poetry and notice it’s longer than a page, I’m overcome with the urge to close the book and watch Instagram reels.
To my surprise, people have been buying Shoes Last Longer in LA! Thanks to word-of-mouth and some social media marketing. Actor friends have shared readings of my poems online. One three-line poem recited by Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) has over 65,000 views on Instagram.
Readers have compared my work to Dorothy Parker and Ogden Nash, which is flattering—though I think I write better poems about reality TV than they ever did.
John Hollander, in the book American Wits: An Anthology of Light Verse, observes that many light-verse poets were not full-time poets but journalists, playwrights, or screenwriters. I guess I see myself in that dying or dead tradition.
3. What other writing projects do you have planned for the future?
First and foremost: more poems! I already have enough for my next book—maybe the next two. (Publishers: get in touch—it’ll sell!)
I’m also a frequent contributor to Light Poetry Magazine and a proud new contributor to this site!
Beyond poetry, I just turned in a television pilot to AMC that I sold with a collaborator right before the WGA Strike. I’m also developing new plays and musicals, including a musical adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, written with composer Jeff Thomson, and a new musical commissioned by the South Carolina New Play Festival with the magician Piff, the Magic Dragon.
What else? My landlord just raised our rent, so don’t be surprised if my next book includes a poem about how long snow boots last in Upstate New York.
We had to include these blurbs!
“Quicker to read and way more fun than being stuck on the 405. A delightful collection of playful, thoughtful, and joyful verse.”
“A knockout collection of poems, SHOES LAST LONGER IN LA makes a great holiday gift for the linguaphile in your life.”
“A hilarious blend of clever wordplay and heartfelt insights. This collection is a treasure.”
“High art without pretension—nuanced, hilarious, and timeless.”
“Clever, witty, and fun. Calling it witty is a vast understatement—perfection instead.”
“Sharp, funny, and relatable snapshots of life that pack an emotional punch.”
“Poetry that feels like sharing an inside joke with a friend. Funny, relatable, and clever.”
“Modern America’s answer to Noël Coward, with biting wit and bubbling insight.”
“Every page will make you laugh, think, or both. Highly recommended!”
“Like 2Pac dropping poetic bars with the musicality of Mozart. A total treasure.”
“So funny, clever, and poignant—it’s the perfect gift for anyone in need of a smile.”
“Accessible and playful poetry that’s deep without being weighty.”
“A delightfully quirky and fun read, filled with surprises on every page.”
About the author:
Matt Schatz is an award-winning playwright, composer, and lyricist. He has been honored with the Kleban Prize, Reva Shiner Comedy Award, and ASCAP Harold Arlen Award. His works have been produced in theaters across the U.S., and he has written for television and film, including projects for Netflix and AMC. Shoes Last Longer in LA is his debut poetry collection, offering a blend of humor, cultural reflection, and sharp observations.
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