Matthew Burgess
Assistant Professor
English
Matthew Burgess began teaching at Brooklyn College in 1999 while pursuing his M.F.A. in poetry. Over the years, he has taught a wide range of classes in the English Department, including composition, poetry writing, modern British poetry and fiction, advanced exposition, and postmodern American poetry. In 2009, Burgess received his appointment as full-time lecturer, and he completed his doctorate at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2014. His dissertation, "The Vastness of Small Spaces: Self-Portraits of the Artist as a Child Enclosed," explores the significance of childhood space in the autobiographical works of Virginia Woolf, Denton Welch, Anne Sexton, and Frank O'Hara. He is the author of a poetry collection, Slippers for Elsewhere (2014) and a children's book, Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings (2015). Most recently, he edited a collection of writing and visual art titled Dream Closet: Meditations on Childhood Space (2016). Several new books are forthcoming in 2019.
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, autobiography studies, American and British modernism, composition and rhetoric, childhood studies, queer literature and theory, education and pedagogy.
Books and Publications
Dream Closet: Meditations on Childhood Space. Secretary Press, 2016. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2016
Enormous Smallness: A Story of E.E. Cummings. Enchanted Lion Books. 2015. (Books and Publications: Book) 2015
Slippers for Elsewhere. UpSet Press. (Books and Publications: Book) 2014
"Serious Play: Odes to the Everyday. What the First Graders Can Teach the College Students." The Poetry Foundation.org. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 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: Other Article) 2012
"The Sky Is the Limit: E.E. Cummings in the Classroom." Teachers & Writers Magazine 43.1, Fall. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2011
"Plays Well with Others: Collaborative Poems in the Classroom." Teachers & Writers Magazine 40.3, Summer. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2009
"See What Happens: Teaching Poems on Poetry." 40.1. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 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: Other Article) 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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