‘… alert to the vagaries of the human predicament…’ Carole Satyamurti
About
Matt Barnard is a writer and poet. His first full collection, Anatomy of a Whale, was published by The Onslaught Press, and he also edited the anthology Poems for the NHS. He has won and been placed in competitions including The Poetry Society’s Hamish Canham Prize, the Bridport Prize, the Ink Tears short story competition, the Momaya short story competition and the Bristol Short Story Prize, and his work has appeared in a number of anthologies and magazines.
Matt was born in 1972 in London, where he still lives with his wife and their two sons and two dogs. An interview with Matt on cultural blog Wombwell Rainbow can be found here.
Anatomy of a Whale
‘A wide range of subject material and a knack for ‘telling it slant’ distinguishes this lively and perceptive collection.’ Penelope Shuttle (poet and novelist)
‘Like the most welcome guests, these restrained and powerful poems announce themselves forcefully, don’t outstay their welcome, and leave our rooms changed.’ Jonathan Edwards (winner of the Costa Book Award for Poetry)
Short Stories
Rooted in the realist tradition but frequently crossing boundaries of time and space, Matt’s stories have won the Ink Tears and Momaya short story competitions, been shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story Prize, been published in the Stories for Homes 2 anthology and read at Liar’s League.
The Blue Man of the Minch
(Performed at Liar’s League’s Old and Young event)
Just after eleven, Colin raced down the hill to tell Johnny Dey that one of Marjorie’s cows was calving. No more than eight years old, with hair cropped so close you could see the bones of his skull, his face shone with a look of wonder and self-importance… Watch the performance and continue reading
Poems for the NHS
This anthology celebrates the fact that access to medical care doesn’t depend on the lottery of good or bad fortune, and we hope it is a fitting way to mark 70 years of an extraordinary institution. The anthology can be bought from The Onslaught Press. Profits from the book will be donated to NHS Charities Together.
Contact
Matt Barnard 
Leave a Reply