Matthew Hollett

Matthew Hollett is a Canadian writer and photographer from Newfoundland and Labrador. He won the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize for his poem Tickling the Scar.

Biography

Matthew Hollett is from Pasadena, Newfoundland and Labrador. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree, and has taught at Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook. He began to pursue a career in writing after moving to St. John's. His first book, Album Rock, was published in 2018 by Boulder Publications. He received the 2017 NCLU Fresh Fish Award for Optic Nerve, a poetry collection about sight and photography which had not yet been published. Optic Nerve was published by Brick Books in 2023.

Hollett was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2016 for his poem Merchant Vessel and Bomb Crater Behind Vimy Station. In 2017, he was longlisted for the CBC Nonfiction Prize for Painting the Curlew. Hollett was the winner of the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize for his poem Tickling the Scar. He was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize again in 2024 for his poem After Icebergs.

Publications

Books

• Hollett, Matthew (2018). Album Rock: Looking Back Through the Lens of Paul-Émile Miot. Portugal Cove–St. Philip's, NL: Boulder Publications. ISBN 978-1-7752-3455-5. OCLC 1080210314.
• — (2023). Optic Nerve: Poems. Kingston, ON: Brick Books. ISBN 978-1-7713-1599-9. OCLC 1346213936.

Articles

• Hollett, Matthew (April 2017). "The Southside Hills in History and Song". Newfoundland Quarterly. St. John's, NL: MUN.
• — (May 2017). ""Walking Even Where No Flowers Grow"". Newfoundland Quarterly. St. John's, NL: MUN.
• — (June 2017). "Clarence Birdseye Eats His Way Through Labrador". Newfoundland Quarterly. St. John's, NL: MUN.
• — (August 2017). "Thirteen Ways of Looking at an Iceberg". Newfoundland Quarterly. St. John's, NL: MUN.
• — (October 2017). "Root Cellars and Flying Fish: the Bonavista Biennale". Newfoundland Quarterly. St. John's, NL: MUN.

References

Sources

• [CBC Books] (6 September 2017). ""Painting the Curlew" by Matthew Hollett". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 1 August 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
• [CBC Books] (29 October 2020). "Tickling the Scar by Matthew Hollett". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• [CBC Books] (27 February 2023). "Optic Nerve by Matthew Hollett". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• [CBC Books] (8 August 2023). "CBC Books' writers to watch: 30 Canadian writers making their mark in 2023". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• [CBC Books] (7 November 2024). "After Icebergs by Matthew Hollett". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Crocker, Diane (30 July 2018). "Pasadena's Matthew Hollett sees a story in the things around him". The Telegram. St. John's, NL: Postmedia Network. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Kidd, Monica (March 2023). ""Seeing your own home in a fresh way can be difficult, and Matthew Hollett does it with grace, humour and intelligence" – review by Monica Kidd". Newfoundland Quarterly. St. John's, NL: Memorial University of Newfoundland. Archived from the original on 22 April 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Mann, Lucy (11 November 2020). "How Matthew Hollett wrote the poem that won the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• [Open Book] (7 March 2023). "Artist & Poet Matthew Hollett on Optic Nerve, His Witty, Poetic Love Letter to the Act of Looking". Open Book. Toronto, ON: Open Book Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Sullivan, Joan (28 April 2023). "'Jammed with such dynamic, tactile stuff' — 'Optic Nerve' is Newfoundland and Labrador poet's eyes on the world". PNI Atlantic News. Postmedia Network. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Waterman, Andrew (13 November 2020). "Matthew Hollett of Pasadena, Newfoundland and Labrador wins 2020 CBC Poetry Prize". The Chronicle Herald. Halifax, NS: Postmedia Network. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.

Further reading

• Johnson, Colin (23 April 2018). "Interview with Matthew Hollett". The Fiddlehead. Fredericton, NB: University of New Brunswick. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Legebokoff, Spencer (2021). "Attuned to History & Landscape: Spencer Legebokoff in Conversation with Matthew Hollett". The Malahat Review. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria. Archived from the original on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Rogerson, Rebecca (2024). "A Constellation of Small Things: Rebecca Rogerson interviews Matthew Hollett". The Malahat Review. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria. Archived from the original on 17 August 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
• Santos-Vieira, Daphné (25 April 2023). "Past CBC Poetry Prize winner Matthew Hollett reflects on writing poetry collection Optic Nerve". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
• Santos-Vieira, Daphné (30 April 2023). "5 past winners share writing tips for entering the CBC Poetry Prize". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.

External links

• Official website