Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Matthews graduated with his B.A. from Yale and his M.A. from the University of North Carolina. Matthews’s first collection of poetry to garner attention was Ruining the New Road: Poems, published in 1970, and he published prolifically after that volume.

Throughout his lifetime, Matthews taught at several universities, won many major awards and fellowships, and served as a member and chair of the Literature Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, please visit the websites listed to the right.

–Christie Finn