Awards and Memberships

Winner of New York State Council on the Arts and de Groot Foundation Courage to Write awards, Ryan D. Matthews has been recognized with fellowships from Hawthornden Castle, Lighthouse Works, Millay Colony, Ucross Foundation, VCCA’s Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, Willapa Bay AiR, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Tin House, and others.

He was recently nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize, is a three-time semifinalist for the George Bennett Fellowship from Phillips Exeter Academy, and a finalist for the Oxbelly retreat. He is the curator and host of The Rally—a political reading series in Brooklyn—and his work has appeared most recently in Lit Hub, Litro, Joyland, and the Michigan Quarterly Review.

I’m also a voting member of PEN America, the world’s oldest humanitarian organization - as well as serving on the PEN Prison Writing Awards committee - as well as the National Book Critics Circle, the professional association of American book review editors and critics.

NYSCA Individual Artist Award

Monetary award funding creative commissions to NY artists including in Film, Literature, & Visual Arts.

de Groot Foundation Courage to Write Award

The de Groot Foundation supports writers and the literary arts by providing a monetary award meant to inspire writers toward the completion of a promising work in progress.

Hawthornden Castle

One-month writing residency in Midlothian Scotland’s Hawthornden Castle.

Lighthouse Works

One month writing residency on Fishers Island, NY, an island in Long Island Sound.

Millay Colony

One-month writing residency on the site of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s home in Austerlitz, New York funded by the Millay Colony for the Arts.

Ucross Foundation

One month as a writing fellow in Sheridan, WY, thanks to the generous support of the Ucross Foundation.

Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus

One month writing residency at the Kebbel Villa in Schwandorf, Germany .

Willapa Bay AiR

One month writing residency in Oysterville, WA, between the Willapa Bay and the Pacific on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula.

Lower Manhattan Cultural Center

Fellowship funded by LMCC and the Trust for Governors Island providing creative time and space for artists, writers, and composers from the five boroughs of New York in response to COVID-19 and its devastating impact across the NYC cultural landscape.

George Bennett Fellowship

Semi-finalist for fellowship to provide time and freedom from material considerations to a person seriously contemplating or pursuing a career as a writer.

PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers

I was nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, an award that recognizes twelve emerging fiction writers each year for their debut short story and aims to support and launch the careers of fiction writers.

Jentel Artist Residency Program

One month in Sheridan, WY, as a writing fellow, thanks to the generous support of the Jentel Artist Residency Program.

Virginia Center for the Arts

Two-week funded writing residency in Amherst, Virginia thanks to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

National Book Critics Circle

I'm a voting member of the National Book Critics Circle—an organization that honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism and literature.