In 1967 he moved to Adelaide to teach English and Australian literature at Flinders University. Matthews was granted an Australia Council for the Arts Writer"s Fellowship in 1989 and was Chair of the Literature Board of the Australia Council from 1990 to 1992. He is considered Australia"s foremost scholar on Henry Lawson and his mother Louisa.
1988 winner Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Gold Medal — Louisa 1988 winner New South Wales Premier"s Literary Awards — Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction — Louisa 1988 winner Victorian Premier"s Literary Awards — The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction — Louisa 1989 joint winner Queensland Premier"s Literary Awards — Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award — Quickening and Other Stories 2001 winner Queensland Premier"s Literary Awards — Best Non-Fiction Book — A Fine and Private Place 2010 winner National Biography Award — Manning Clark: A Life.
