Matthew Frye-Castillo is a creative writer, educator, journalist, and editorial strategist based in New York City with roots in Southern California and Southcentral Alaska. A former arts reporter for The Anchorage Press and arts editor for The Red Hook Star-Revue, he has contributed to The Anchorage Daily News, ESPN, HuffPost, and Bushwick Daily. His creative nonfiction, poetry, and short stories have appeared in Epiphany: A Literary Journal, Newtown Literary, Best Gay Stories, Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Paris Review Daily, Lambda Literary, The Lindenwood Review, Understory, OPOSSUM, Little Patuxent Review, Chance Magazine, and Worn in New York, which was featured in the Netflix adaptation, Worn Stories.

Matthew is the author of One Headlight: A Memoir (Cirque Press), which Kirkus Reviews praised as “An affecting and surprising remembrance about the responsibilities of parents and children.” One Headlight is currently taught in psychology and literature courses and inspired a song by the musician G. Mills. Matthew’s creative writing has been supported by the Hertog Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. He holds an MFA from Hunter College and studied at Columbia University, the University of Alaska Anchorage, and Clark University.

Matthew is a tenured (CCE) Lecturer in Professional Writing at Lehman College, City University of New York, where he has launched courses on emerging media, LGBTQ+ literature, and entrepreneurship for writers. He has directed the LGBTQ+ Collective and currently leads the LGBTQ+ Literary series. He currently serves as a faculty fellow for Writing Across the Curriculum and CUNY Beyond, and sits on the Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism Committee. Before joining Lehman College in 2020, he worked in journalism, marketing, publishing, and financial consulting. He continues to consult for nonprofits and Native corporations on editorial strategy.

Born in San Diego and raised in Los Angeles and Anchorage, he currently lives in Astoria, Queens, with his husband, Adam.

Photo Credit: Emil D. Cohen