Mat Kondo Pens FIRST HARVEST

Mat Kondo marks his poetic debut with the release of "First Harvest: Collected Poems, 2003-2013" (published by Partridge Singapore). An anthology of Kondo's signature neo-beat style of poetry, this book paints a portrait of the author as a man deeply in love with the world and equally troubled by its current state. He draws influence and inspiration from the poetry of Corso, Kerouac and Micheline, as well as their heroes before them - Shelley, Basho and Blake.

"First Harvest" is a motley collection of poems written over a 10-year period. The content of the poems centers mostly around the day-to-day problems present in the modern world but it is also a celebration of the beauty and persistence of the human spirit. Beyond everything, Kondo makes a thundering wakeup to empower readers into becoming more proactive members of society.

"I would like readers to come away with a renewed sense of responsibility to do something positive towards change," Kondo says, "It is very easy to become complacent when you live in a comfortable, wealthy, first-world country. I want to 'shake up' my readers and encourage them to challenge their leaders more and make efforts towards improving the status quo."

Sharp, prescient and thoroughly compelling, "First Harvest: Collected Poems, 2003-2013" offers a portrait of the human race in the 21st century, a species at a crossroads.

"First Harvest: Collected Poems, 2003-2013"
By Mat Kondo
Hardcover | 5.5 x 8.5in | 102 pages | ISBN 9781482896275
Softcover | 5.5 x 8.5in | 102 pages | ISBN 9781482896268
E-Book | 102 pages | ISBN 9781482892390
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author
Mat Kondo is a Tokyo-based poet born in Toowoomba, Australia. His love and interest in poetry began in his twenties after being greatly inspired by the poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson and Charles Baudelaire. Kondo is a translator of Japanese to English, but his main calling is poetry. "First Harvest" is his first book of verse.

Partridge Singapore is a partnership between the Penguin Group, the world's foremost trade book publisher, and Author Solutions, LLC, the industry leader in supported self-publishing, that aims to help writers in Singapore, Malaysia, and the rest of Southeast Asia become published authors. Partridge Singapore gives authors in the region direct access to a comprehensive range of expert publishing services that meet industry standards but are more accessible to the market. For more information or to publish a book, visit partridgepublishing.com/singapore or call 800 101 2657 (Singapore) or 1 800 81 7340 (Malaysia). For the latest, follow @PartridgeSG on Twitter.

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