Matthew Minicucci is a writer currently living in Portland, OR. His most recent collection of poems, Small Gods, won the 2019 Stafford/Hall Oregon Book Award for Poetry. This past summer, he served as the 43rd Dartmouth Poet-in-Residence.

His work concentrates on the intersections of etymology and mythology, focusing on how language adapts and connects our larger cultural shared pasts to our very personal stories. He’s currently in various states of work/completion regarding numerous new poetry projects, including a collection of contrapuntal pieces examining toxic masculinity through the lens of a Greek tragedy, and a co-curated collection of prose poems with Baltimore poet Khaleel Gheba focusing on isolation and disconnection in American science fiction and horror films. He’s also 60k words into his first novel project, a New-Adult Fiction book focusing on three college students attempting to solve the disappearance of their Greek professor.

When Matthew’s not writing, he’s generally thinking about the fact that he should be writing. In an effort to write more, you can also find him blogging for the Fresh Eyes series for the Portland Artists Repertory Theater, sitting in on play rehearsals and talking about the experience. In addition to that, he’s very often trying out new recipes, going for long walks in Portland, or playing whatever new PS4 game du jour all his friends scattered around the country are currently playing.

Some of his favorite authors include Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Tyehimba Jess, Alexander Chee, Ted Sanders, Ben Percy, Joshua Bennett, Jordan Zandi, and Elena Passarello.

Matthew is currently reading the play Travesties by Tom Stoppard and The Tradition (a finalist for the National Book Award) by Jericho Brown.

Website: matthewminicucci.com