He holds an MFA in Creative Writing, a BA in English, and a Writing Certificate, all earned at the University of Missouri at St. Louis.
When he is not in the classroom or tutoring students, Matthew writes micro-fiction and poetry. He is the author of the chapbook Twenty-One Cents (Pudding House, 2002) and his work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous national and regional literary journals and anthologies both in print and online, including No Tell Motel, Natural Bridge, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Talking River, Kansas English, Maize, Soundings East, Ligature, The Connecticut River Review, Cairn, The Quercus Review, and others.
Prior to joining JCCC, Matthew was an Assistant Professor of English and Coordinator of the All Campus Tutoring Center at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina.
Prior to teaching and writing, Matthew was the Managing Editor of the nationally-distributed literary journal Natural Bridge, a project supervisor and technical writer for a privately-held workers' compensation insurance company, and a marketing coordinator for a business-to-business telemarketing firm.
Matthew lives in Overland Park, Kansas, and is available for talks and workshops about writing, teaching, and publishing poetry with interested schools, community groups, and charitable organizations.