Matthew Hittinger was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, not far from the grave of H.D., and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Art History and English from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2000, and his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2004.
University of Michigan.
His work has appeared on Verse Daily and in over fifty journals including American Letters & Commentary, Barn Owl Review, Center, Crazyhorse, DIAGRAM, Dusie, Michigan Quarterly Review, Phoebe, StepAway Magazine and elsewhere, including a feature in Blue Fifth Review, the cover feature for the December 2008 MiPOesias, and in many anthologies including Best New Poets 2005, Ganymede Poets, One, Villanelles, Divining Divas: 100 Gay Poets on the Women Who Inspire Them, A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Poems, The Rumpus Original Poetry Anthology, and Love Rise Up: Poems of Social Justice, Protest and Hope. A collaborative artist, Hittinger has worked on a number of projects with artists in other disciplines, including the Canadian painter Kristy Gordon, the American painter Judith Peck, Chicago-based composer Randall West, and New York City-based composer John Glover. Glover"s art song setting of Hittinger"s poem "8:46 Master of Arts, Five Years Later" was included in the Five Boroughs Music Festival"s Five Borough Songbook (2012).
Hittinger is married to photographer Michael Ernest Sweet, they live in New York City.
He is the author of the poetry collection Skin Shift, which earned him a 2012 Debut Poet nod from Poets & Writers Magazine, and three chapbooks including Pear Slip, winner of the Spire Press 2006 Chapbook Award. Shortlisted for the National Poetry Series, the New Issues Poetry Prize, and twice for the Walt Whitman Award, Matthew"s honors include a Hopwood Award and The Helen S. and John Wagner Prize from the University of Michigan, the Kay Deeter Award from the journal Fine Madness, two Sundress Best of the Net nominations, and eleven Pushcart Prize nominations.
