Matthew Gavin Frank (born 1976) is an American writer, specializing in creative nonfiction, the lyric essay, literary food and travel writing, and poetry.

Matthew Gavin Frank
BornNovember 25, 1976
Chicago, Illinois
OccupationWriter
NationalityAmerican
GenreCreative nonfiction, lyric essay, poetry
Website
matthewgfrank.com

Life

edit

Matthew Gavin Frank grew up in Illinois, before graduating from Arizona State University with an MFA.[1]

He has previously taught at Grand Valley State University[2] and continues to teach in the English department at Northern Michigan University,[3] where he is also the Nonfiction and Hybrid Editor of the literary journal Passages North.[4][5]

His nonfiction books include, Flight of the Diamond Smugglers: A Tale of Pigeons, Obsession, and Greed Along Coastal South Africa (2021) — named a finalist for the Heartland Booksellers Award in Nonfiction[6] and an NPR Best Book of 2021[7] —, The Mad Feast (2015), Preparing the Ghost (2014), Pot Farm (2012), and Barolo (2010).[8] Frank's books of poetry include, The Morrow Plots (2013), Warranty in Zulu (2010), and Sagittarius Agitprop (2009).

Frank's work has appeared in numerous magazines, including The New Republic, Conjunctions, The Iowa Review, Gulf Coast, The Kenyon Review, Salon,[9] and Gastronomica and has been anthologized in The Best Travel Writing, Best Food Writing, and Creative Nonfiction: The Best of Brevity.

Bibliography

edit
  • Aardvark, West Town Press, 2007
  • Four Hours to Mpumalanga. Pudding House Publications. 2008. ISBN 978-1-58998-692-3.
  • Sagittarius Agitprop, Black Lawrence Press / Dzanc Books, 2009, ISBN 9781934703557 [10]
  • Barolo. U of Nebraska Press. April 1, 2010. pp. 5–. ISBN 978-0-8032-2830-6.
  • Warranty in Zulu, Barrow Street Press, 2010, ISBN 9780981987637
  • Pot Farm. U of Nebraska Press. March 1, 2012. ISBN 978-0-8032-4014-8. [11][12][13]
  • The Morrow Plots, Black Lawrence Press / Dzanc Books, 2013, ISBN 9781937854270
  • Preparing the Ghost: An Essay Concerning the Giant Squid and Its First Photographer. Liveright. July 7, 2014. ISBN 978-0-87140-289-9. [14]
  • The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America's Food. Liveright. 27 October 2015. ISBN 9781631490736.

References

edit
  1. ^ Noll, Michael (July 2014). "An Interview with Matthew Gavin Frank". Read to Write Stories. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  2. ^ "Matthew Gavin Frank". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  3. ^ "Matthew G. Frank". Northern Michigan University.
  4. ^ "Passages North Masthead". Passages North.
  5. ^ Giraldi, William (July 3, 2014). "Book Review: Preparing the Ghost by Matthew Gavin Frank". Wall Street Journal.
  6. ^ "Heartland Booksellers Award 2021: Meet the Finalists". YouTube.
  7. ^ "Best Books 2021: Books We Love".
  8. ^ Earley, Mindy (April 30, 2010). "Local Author Matthew Gavin Frank Chats About His New Book Barolo". Michigan Live.
  9. ^ "The origin of an appetizer: A look at the creation of calamari". Salon. August 30, 2014.
  10. ^ Osborn, Alice. "Sagittarius Agitprop review". The Pedestal Magazine. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  11. ^ Lingan, John (April 2, 2012). "Kind Buds by John Lingan". Los Angeles Review of Books. Heart of Dankness and Pot Farm present two very different examples of civilians wading into the legally murky, phenomenally profitable marijuana industry. The former is a globetrotting, journalistic trip through the nerdier echelons of marijuana development, while the latter is a lyrical, present-tense memoir that barely strays from its Edenic setting.
  12. ^ "Pot Farm Review". Kirkus. December 19, 2011.
  13. ^ McCabe, Vinton Rafe. "Pot Farm". New York Journal of Books. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  14. ^ Mooallem, Jon (July 11, 2014). "Into the Deep". New York Times. That makes "Preparing the Ghost" unsatisfying at times, but also alluring. It's hard to imagine a better book about not entirely understanding giant squids.
edit