This exceptional collection from Matejka puts his agile, musical voice, vivid imagery, and talent for cultural critique on full display. The result is a fantastic entry point for readers unfamiliar with Matejka's work. An essential volume for his fans.--Publishers Weekly, starred review

There are so many kinds of music in Adrian Matejka's head. He's spot on about 'the music of the mind & / . . . the music of the maw.' There's also the music of time, coursing through Be Easy as memory, history, and hope. And the chorus of color, mapping out a portrait of who in the world we are and what it is we seek. In the vivid intoxication of each poem's heartbeat and mouthfeel is something that sounds to me like marrow music, flowing toward what stirs at the core of us.--Tracy K. Smith, author of Such Color: New and Selected Poems

Adrian Matejka's marvelous Be Easy is a live, evolving statement of poetics. From debut to today, he's tuned in to the codes and frequencies of someone born Black when the world was sold. Whatever the form, Matejka's peerless work aims to revitalize our fossilized language, turning it back into a body of muscle, memory, music. This new and selected is all that.--Terrance Hayes, author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin

These old and new poems recognize and speak to each other the way 'game recognize game.' This is not the highlight reel of a retired Indiana baller with only 'remember when's' to serve up. Although the oldies are goodies, this pure shooter with both handles and range is not only still in his prime, his lyrical ankle-breakers demand that Be Easy be picked first off the shelf. This instant classic, this collection of new and selected poems is an all-star team that proves Adrian Matejka still 'got game.'--Frank X Walker, author of Load In Nine Times

This highly anticipated gathering of poems new and from past collections celebrates Matejka as an acclaimed writer of soulful musicality, unmatched linguistic ingenuity, and constantly evolving poetic strategies. Matejka's new poems establish him as a poet of fascinating contradictions, urban and suburban, visual and musical, utterly brilliant and entirely grounded.--Diego Báez, Booklist, starred review

Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation

Pub date: 2026-03-31

Length: 224 pages