Matthew Thorburn's new book of poems, A Hundred Birds, will be published by Louisiana State University Press in March 2027.
He’s also the author of six previous books, including String, a novel in poems; The Grace of Distance, a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize; and the book-length poem Dear Almost, honored with the Lascaux Prize. He is the recipient of a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, as well as fellowships from the Bronx and New Jersey arts councils and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. His work has also been recognized with the New Issues Poetry Prize, the Mississippi Review Prize and the Guy Owen Prize from Southern Poetry Review. A native of Michigan and for many years a New Yorker, Matthew Thorburn lives and works in central New Jersey.
Follow him on Instagram and YouTube.
“Matthew’s work is wry, surprising, jovial and a little mysterious. His poems tie together memories of family and friends and examine nostalgias with a kind of quiet, bemused remove. Even when he uses sonnets and other traditional forms, his voice remains distinctive, intimate and, above all, memorable.”
—Charles Simic, citation for the Witter Bynner Fellowship
He’s also the author of six previous books, including String, a novel in poems; The Grace of Distance, a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize; and the book-length poem Dear Almost, honored with the Lascaux Prize. He is the recipient of a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, as well as fellowships from the Bronx and New Jersey arts councils and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. His work has also been recognized with the New Issues Poetry Prize, the Mississippi Review Prize and the Guy Owen Prize from Southern Poetry Review. A native of Michigan and for many years a New Yorker, Matthew Thorburn lives and works in central New Jersey.
Follow him on Instagram and YouTube.
“Matthew’s work is wry, surprising, jovial and a little mysterious. His poems tie together memories of family and friends and examine nostalgias with a kind of quiet, bemused remove. Even when he uses sonnets and other traditional forms, his voice remains distinctive, intimate and, above all, memorable.”
—Charles Simic, citation for the Witter Bynner Fellowship
