Matthew Burgess
Assistant Professor
English

Matthew Burgess began teaching at Brooklyn College in 1999 while pursuing his M.F.A. in Poetry. He has taught a wide range of courses in the English Department, including poetry writing, British poetry and fiction, literature for young people, and postmodern American poetry. Burgess received his appointment as a full-time lecturer in 2009, completed his doctoral degree from the Graduate Center in 2014, and became an Assistant Professor in 2016. He is the author of a poetry collection, Slippers for Elsewhere, (2014) and two books for children: Enormous Smallness: A Story of E.E. Cummings (2015) and The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon (2019). Burgess edited two book-length collections: Dream Closet: Meditations on Children Space (2016) and recently, Spellbound: The Art of Teaching Poetry (2019). More titles are forthcoming, including Drawing On Walls: A Story of Keith Haring (2020), The Bear and the Moon (2020), Bird Boy (2021), and Make Meatballs Sing: The Life & Art of Corita Kent (2021).
Show Scholarly Activities and Professional Accomplishments
Education:
PhD, CUNY Graduate Center - 2014 (Literature)
M.F.A., Brooklyn College - 2001 (Poetry)
B.A., University of Virginia - 1996 (English / Modern Studies)
Areas of Expertise:
Poetry, creative writing, literature for young people, autobiography studies, American and British modernism, composition and rhetoric, education and pedagogy.
Books and Publications
Dream Closet: Meditations on Childhood Space. Secretary Press, 2016. (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2016
Enormous Smallness: A Story of E.E. Cummings. Enchanted Lion Books. 2015. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2015
Slippers for Elsewhere. UpSet Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2014
"Serious Play: Odes to the Everyday. What the First Graders Can Teach the College Students." The Poetry Foundation.org. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2013
"'Glories Strung Like Beads': The Queer Brilliance of Joe Brainard's 'I Remember.'" Teachers & Writers Magazine 44.2, Winter 2012-13. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2012
"The Sky Is the Limit: E.E. Cummings in the Classroom." Teachers & Writers Magazine 43.1, Fall. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2011
"Plays Well with Others: Collaborative Poems in the Classroom." Teachers & Writers Magazine 40.3, Summer. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2009
"See What Happens: Teaching Poems on Poetry." 40.1. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2008
"See What Happens: Teaching Poems on Poetry." Teachers & Writers Magazine 40.1, Fall. Seven photographs published in the same issue, including front and back covers. http://www.twc.org/assets/40-1.pdf. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2008
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Award for Excellence in Teaching for a Full-Time Faculty Member. Brooklyn College. (Awards and Honors) 2018
Award for Excellence in Creative Achievement. Brooklyn College. (Awards and Honors) 2015
Award from The Fund for Poetry. (Awards and Honors) 2013
First prize in the GC Advocate Poetry Competition, judged by Wayne Koestenbaum. Five poems published in the May issue. (Awards and Honors) 2012
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
Panel presentation. AWP Conference. Boston. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2013
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