Description: Neil Mathison's writing explores the many ways in which the physical world influences our lives. He muses on heritage, boats, and the sea; ponders how living in the shadow of a volcano shapes a person; and ties the physical world to deeper themes of human life, such as relationships and personal tragedies.
Brief description: Neil Mathison, an essayist and short-story writer, has been a naval officer, a nuclear engineer, an expatriate businessman living in Hong Kong, a corporate vice-president, and a stay-at-home dad. His work has appeared in The Ontario Review, Georgia Review, Southern Humanities Review, North American Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Agni, Pangolin Papers, Blue Mesa Review, and elsewhere. Born in Brazil, he grew up in Seattle, graduated from the US Naval Academy, and ultimately returned to the Northwest where he now lives and writes.
Review Quotes: "This is an inviting essay collection--full of time, thought, unsentimental felling, and a clarity of observation that together range far and wide. With beautiful writing, Neil Mathison offers us the benefits of his wild and tamed curiosity--which, as he suggests, may be divine. I'm pleased to choose it as the winner of the Monadnock Essay Collection Prize."--Alice B. Fogel, New Hampshire poet laureate and author of A Doubtful House (1/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)