Joseph Massey

But yeah, I was living a decent, clean life after being kind of a drunk in my 20s and being a bit inappropriate at times, as I admitted in the in the essay and various public declarations that when they didn't go anywhere, it was just throwing chum to sharks. But Yeah, it was brutal. It all started with a fake letter.

It was a forged letter written by somebody who claimed they met me at a poetry reading. And then I called her hot. And it was put on a WordPress website. And then this woman that I had been involved in, involved with, posted the link with malicious intent. And it just spread like wildfire through the poetry community and beyond. Into the wider literary world, it was mentioned in Publishers Weekly.

It was a forged letter written by somebody who claimed they met me at a poetry reading. And then I called her hot. And it was put on a WordPress website. And then this woman that I had been involved in, involved with, posted the link with malicious intent. And it just spread like wildfire through the poetry community and beyond. Into the wider literary world, it was mentioned in Publishers Weekly.

It was a forged letter written by somebody who claimed they met me at a poetry reading. And then I called her hot. And it was put on a WordPress website. And then this woman that I had been involved in, involved with, posted the link with malicious intent. And it just spread like wildfire through the poetry community and beyond. Into the wider literary world, it was mentioned in Publishers Weekly.

There was a disgusting, defamatory article published about me in some magazine that's defunct now. But at the time, it got a lot of traction. And so I immediately lost jobs. I lost a job I had at the University of Pennsylvania. I lost book deals. I had a book coming out with Wesleyan University Press that was scrapped. And I lost all my friends. I lost all my social networks.

There was a disgusting, defamatory article published about me in some magazine that's defunct now. But at the time, it got a lot of traction. And so I immediately lost jobs. I lost a job I had at the University of Pennsylvania. I lost book deals. I had a book coming out with Wesleyan University Press that was scrapped. And I lost all my friends. I lost all my social networks.

There was a disgusting, defamatory article published about me in some magazine that's defunct now. But at the time, it got a lot of traction. And so I immediately lost jobs. I lost a job I had at the University of Pennsylvania. I lost book deals. I had a book coming out with Wesleyan University Press that was scrapped. And I lost all my friends. I lost all my social networks.

So it took a year, all of 2018 and most of 2019 to kind of just rebuild a sense of self again, which I did through God, through Jesus Christ, and through the Catholic Church specifically. And then I was able to re-engage my poetry in a way that was even more vital and important. I realized that I never wrote poetry to become successful. It was always a survival, kind of a survival skill for me.

So it took a year, all of 2018 and most of 2019 to kind of just rebuild a sense of self again, which I did through God, through Jesus Christ, and through the Catholic Church specifically. And then I was able to re-engage my poetry in a way that was even more vital and important. I realized that I never wrote poetry to become successful. It was always a survival, kind of a survival skill for me.

So it took a year, all of 2018 and most of 2019 to kind of just rebuild a sense of self again, which I did through God, through Jesus Christ, and through the Catholic Church specifically. And then I was able to re-engage my poetry in a way that was even more vital and important. I realized that I never wrote poetry to become successful. It was always a survival, kind of a survival skill for me.

What's to stop me? Other poets are the ones. You're not allowed back once you've been canceled. And in my case, I'm even more of a boogeyman to them because, well, I published that essay in Quillette, which at that time in 2019, they were all screaming, oh, he's publishing in a fascist publication, Quillette of all things. And then I dared to self-publish and appear on your show.

What's to stop me? Other poets are the ones. You're not allowed back once you've been canceled. And in my case, I'm even more of a boogeyman to them because, well, I published that essay in Quillette, which at that time in 2019, they were all screaming, oh, he's publishing in a fascist publication, Quillette of all things. And then I dared to self-publish and appear on your show.

What's to stop me? Other poets are the ones. You're not allowed back once you've been canceled. And in my case, I'm even more of a boogeyman to them because, well, I published that essay in Quillette, which at that time in 2019, they were all screaming, oh, he's publishing in a fascist publication, Quillette of all things. And then I dared to self-publish and appear on your show.

And I started expressing political opinions on X or then Twitter. And so now I'm not called the things that they were calling me before. Now I'm the fascist. And the funniest thing I was called recently because of the inaugural poem I wrote was the poet laureate of white people. which I thought about including as a blurb on the back of the book, but then I decided against it.

And I started expressing political opinions on X or then Twitter. And so now I'm not called the things that they were calling me before. Now I'm the fascist. And the funniest thing I was called recently because of the inaugural poem I wrote was the poet laureate of white people. which I thought about including as a blurb on the back of the book, but then I decided against it.

And I started expressing political opinions on X or then Twitter. And so now I'm not called the things that they were calling me before. Now I'm the fascist. And the funniest thing I was called recently because of the inaugural poem I wrote was the poet laureate of white people. which I thought about including as a blurb on the back of the book, but then I decided against it.

That's solely the reason. That's the only reason. And when I posted a picture of myself wearing a Trump t-shirt, it was like being canceled all over again. Getting messages from friends or people I thought were friends. I can't believe you would do this. I can't believe it. I'm like, what? Why? And they never really have any concrete arguments. It's just pure reactivity.

That's solely the reason. That's the only reason. And when I posted a picture of myself wearing a Trump t-shirt, it was like being canceled all over again. Getting messages from friends or people I thought were friends. I can't believe you would do this. I can't believe it. I'm like, what? Why? And they never really have any concrete arguments. It's just pure reactivity.

That's solely the reason. That's the only reason. And when I posted a picture of myself wearing a Trump t-shirt, it was like being canceled all over again. Getting messages from friends or people I thought were friends. I can't believe you would do this. I can't believe it. I'm like, what? Why? And they never really have any concrete arguments. It's just pure reactivity.

And it's not the kind of behavior I ever expected from poets. Growing up and reading poetry, reading Rimbaud and Blake and et cetera, I mean, these people were outliers. They were rebels, right? They weren't just towing the line. And poets these days, like every other artist in every other field, they seem to just tow the line to keep the federal, to keep the grand money coming.