English Department Faculty
Suzanne Matson
Professor
Suzanne Matson
Ph.D.
Contact
Stokes Hall S437
Telephone: 617-552-3716
Email: suzanne.matson@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., Portland State University
- M.A., University of Washington
- Ph.D., University of Washington
Department
Biography
Suzanne Matson is the co-director of the Creative Writing Concentration and a writer across genres, with three books of poetry, four novels, and a book of nonfiction. She teaches poetry and fiction workshops at all levels, and Topics in Nonfiction courses including Writing about Place and Writing Spiritual Autobiography. She’s received fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, and was named the Finlandia Foundation Lecturer of the Year in 2023. Her author’s website is at www.suzannematson.com.
Publications
Books
Nonfiction:
- Winnowing. Durham, NC: Duke UP, forthcoming fall 2026.
Poetry:
- As Creatures. Corvallis, OR: Cloudbank Books, forthcoming fall 2026.
- Durable Goods. Cambridge: Alice James Books, 1993.
- Sea Level. Cambridge: Alice James Books, 1990.
Novels:
- Ultraviolet. New York: Catapult, September 2018.
- The Tree-Sitter. New York: W. W. Norton, February 2006.
- A Trick of Nature. New York: W. W. Norton, April 2000.
- The Hunger Moon. New York: W. W. Norton, July 1997.
Poetry in Periodicals
- “The One in Philipsburg, Montana,” “The One in Garibaldi, Oregon,” Terrain.org, (6/11/2026).
- “Reconciliation,” “Ghazal for Flight,” Tar River Review 65:2 (Spring 2026).
- “January Poem” Poetry Magazine 227.4 (January/February 2026): 330.
- “Bone Songs,” The Southern Review 60.4 (autumn 2024): 615-19.
- “I Thank the Sheep,” The Threepenny Review 179 (Fall 2024): 8.
- “As Creatures,” Cloudbank 18 (2024): 5.
- “Missionary, 1920,” “Went into a Bar,” “Celia,” “To Genda,” “Little Deaths,” “Calling Her,” Re-Markings (Special Number: A World Assembly of Poets) 16.4 (November 2017): 163-66.
- “Watch.” The Cortland Review 73 (11/6/16).
- “Division Street,” “Story,” “Rishikesh.” Terrain. org (2/27/14).
- “Found Haiku, Missing Beat.” Washington Square Review (winter/spring 2009): 26.
- “Birds at Six O’Clock”; “From SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS”; “Reading Lesson at a Farm Workers’ Community School, Woodville, California, 1942.” Kippis! 1:1 (winter 2009): 29-31.
- “Honeymoon Snapshot: Diptych.” Boston College Magazine 66.4 (fall 2006): 61.
- “Mysore Pantoum,” “Ballroom Dancing, A Vision,” “Photographing Debra.” Kestrel 18 (2005): 54-58.
- “Alligator Country” (reprinted), “Backyard Soil, c. 1960,” “Renovation.” Salamander: Then and Now 10th Anniversary Issue 9.1-2 (2003): 134-8.
- “Desert Botanical Garden.” Sou’wester 31.1 (fall 2002): 92.
- “A Nickel Sun.” New England Review 23.2 (spring 2002): 145.
- “Unreasonable Fears.” Boston College Magazine 62.2 (spring 2002): 5.
- “Cruelty,” “Florida Wake.” The Seattle Review 20.1 (fall 1998): 117-18.
- “For Frances, Who Can’t Stop Dreaming of Danger, Even When the Children Are Safe at Home.” Poetry Northwest 38.4 (winter 1997-98): 40.
- “Nicholas, Refusing to Sleep,” “Then, Nicholas.” Salamander 4.1 (spring 1996): 7-8.
- “Love Poem.” The Madison Review 17.2 (fall 1995): 54.
- “Milk/Love.” Harvard Review 9 (fall 1995): 88.
- “The Oath of Happiness.” Boston College Magazine 54.4 (fall 1995): 14.
- “Alligator Country,” “Elegy,” “This Distance.” Salamander 3.1 (winter 1995): 65-7.
- “Not Talking About God in America.” Red Brick Review 1995: 14.
- “Platia Talo,” Wifery.” Berkeley Poetry Review 27 (1993-94): 90-1.
- “Hometown.” Boston College Magazine 52.3 (summer 1993): 25.
- “Flagstaff.” Harvard Review 4 (spring 1993): 36-7.
- “The Wreck of Days.” Indiana Review 16.1 (spring 1993): 186-90.
- “Cafe.” Sou’wester 20.3 (winter 1993): 29.
- “Farm Animals.” Christian Science Monitor 85.62 (25 February 1993): 16.
- “The Beach.” Sojourner 18.1 (Sept. 1992): 37.
- “Worry.” Sojourner 17.12 (Aug. 1992): 6B.
- “Greek.” Shenandoah 42.2 (summer 1992): 85.
- “Petty Crime.” Dominion Review 10 (spring 1992): 22.
- “Woman with Distaff.” Iris 24 (fall-winter 1990): c. 1989): 25.
- “Elegy for Neil.” Southern Poetry Review 29.2 (fall 1989): 23.
- “Debussy,” “There Was a Temporary Accident.” The American Poetry Review 17.2 (Mar.-Apr. 1988): 21.
- “The Artist and His Model,” “The Bohemian Wedding,” “The Wound-up Girl Ice Skater.” Fine Madness 3.2 (fall 1986): 6-9.
- “In Rovaniemi, Finland.” Poetry Northwest 27.1 (spring 1986): 11-12.
- “Coyotes,” “Letters,” “Travelers.” The Seattle Review 9.1 (spring 1986): 79-82.
- “Centralia Stop,” “Jackson County Census.” The Seattle Review 7.1 (spring 1984): 17-18.
- “After ‘Charming,’” “The Sunbather,” “The Sunday Drunk.” Poetry 142.2 (May 1983): 90-3.
- “Fossils,” “Leaving Garibaldi.” Poetry Northwest 23.4 (winter 1982-83): 39-41.
- “Love in the Coal Mine,” “Scotch Coulee,” “Newspaper Pictures out of Poland,” “Widow Aunts.” Poetry Northwest 23.2 (summer 1982): 26-9.
Nonfiction Essays
- “The Cookie Fortress,” in “Connections,” Globe Magazine, Nov. 19, 2023: 34. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/16/magazine/the-cookie-fortress/
- “My Barbie, my self.” The Boston Globe July 30, 2023: K3. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/24/opinion/my-barbie-my-self/
- “Boston: Dispatches from a Pandemic,” Harvard Review, Nov. 20, 2020. https://harvardreview.org/content/boston/
- "Winnowing," in "Connections," Globe Magazine, Jan. 6, 2019: 31. https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2019/01/04/sorting-through-mother-closets/UyRANr2swSMVINd3RJPKeN/story.html
- “The Caretaker of the Chin Hairs,” in “Ties,” New York Times, Nov. 23, 2018.
- "For parents, gridiron isn’t just fun and games.” The Boston Globe Oct. 31, 2009: A11.
- "Prospects.” Boston College Magazine 68:3 (Summer 2008): 50-1.
- "Fellow Workers. . . .” The Seattle Times June 27, 2005: B5.
- “A Thank-You Note.” Child February 2000: 104.
- “Love Among the Ruins.” Child February 1999: 111-12.
- “Days Like These.” Child August 1998: 19.
- “Milestones.” Child May 1998: 119.
- “When Nick Met Henry.” Child Dec.-Jan. 1998: 151-2.
- “He’s Not Heavy, He’s My Baby.” New York Times Magazine Jan. 12, 1997: 54.
Short Fiction
- “Convention Center,” Harvard Review 48: (Dec 2015).
- “Manger,” Pangyrus (September 4, 2015) http://www.pangyrus.com/fiction/manger/ . Print version, Pangyrus 2 (fall 2016): 36-40.
- “Pie,” Ploughshares Solo 3:1 (August 27, 2014).
- “Your Best Yet,” Harvard Review 45: 92-108 (May 2014).
- “Boys’ Choir.” Carolina Quarterly 62.3 (winter 2012): 60-5.
- “Ultraviolet.” Mussoorie Writers (inaugural launch; June 4, 2012) Ed. Stephen Alter. http://www.mussooriewriters.com/. [No longer archived after website redesign.]
- “Persephone at Boylston.” BostonNOW 1.5-1.11 (April 23-May 1, 2007), serialized in seven installments.
Column
- “Disquieting Muses: The Politics/Poetics of Looking.” Harvard Review 7 (fall 1994): 125-8.
- “Disquieting Muses: Mnemosyne.” Harvard Review 5 (fall 1993): 20-2.
- “Disquieting Muses: Sylvia Plath and the Problem of Relation.” Harvard Review 4 (spring 1993): 32-5.
Articles in Journals
- “The Liberty Committee: Finns, Sedition, and Montana Vigilantes during World War I.” Journal of Finnish Studies 13:1 (summer 2009): 67-74.
- “Strange Cities.” Harvard Review 13 (fall 1997): 47-50. A special issue devoted to the poetry of Charles Simic.
- “‘Without Relation’: Family and Freedom in the Poetry of Louise Glück.” The Mid-American Review 14.2 (1994): 88-109.
- “Flowery Codes: Sandra McPherson’s Poetics of Gender and Naturalism.” Denver Quarterly 28.2 (fall 1993): 86-92 .
- “On Reclaiming the Universal.” River City 13.2 (spring 1993): 118-124.
- “Please Don’t Call it the New Confessionalism.” Harvard Review 2 (fall 1992): 164-66.
- “Talking to Our Father: The Political and Mythical Appropriations of Adrienne Rich and Sharon Olds.” The American Poetry Review 18.6 (Nov.-Dec. 1989): 35-41.