Matti is a queer nonfiction writer & poet from Baltimore, Maryland, though he's currently based in Northern Virginia. He's in a long-term love affair with the ampersand. His work has appeared (or is forthcoming) in McSweeney's, Rumpus, CRAFT, X-R-A-Y, HAD, Ekphrastic Review, River Heron Review, Jake, Libre, Anti-Heroin Chic, Grub Street, Corporeal Lit Mag, & elsewhere. His chapbook, letters to jimi hendrix on the Star-Spangled Banner, is forthcoming from Fifth Wheel Press in 2027 and was previously selected as a Finishing Line Press semifinalist. His work has been supported by a summer residency with Inner Loop in D.C., as well as the Cheuse travel grant. He is a nonfiction editor for the intersectional feminist lit mag, So To Speak & an MFA candidate in nonfiction from George Mason University. He's currently working on a book-length hybrid-lyric essay about Emma Goldman. During his free time, he enjoys reading, kayaking, & hanging with his partner's cats (& with his partner). Matti takes ownership of cat photos, but no ownership of physical cats: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f3b420_650f67e077834c72bcbfd2272fd3eb45~mv2.png Questions? Comments? Want to send me photos of the last time you explored a dilapidated building (please do)? Drop me a LINE HERE o(https://www.mattibenbenlev.com/contact)r email me: mattibenlev@gmail.com

• abandoned buildings and spaces • politics & living in contemporary America (yay) • capitalism, anarchism, nationalism • music (esp. Jimi Hendrix, Coltrane, jazz, etc.) • Emma Goldman • my family & culture (Greek, Jewish, etc.)

• developmental editing & beta reading • freelance writing (articles, blog posts, etc.) • ghostwriting • conducting author interviews

Outside of writing, I'm the assistant nonfiction editor of the intersectional feminist lit mag So To Speak. [PLEASE take a peek & watch for future calls: https://www.sotospeakjournal.org] (https://www.sotospeakjournal.org]) I work at George Mason's Writing Center and teach English Composition; specifically, I teach English 101. I also serve on the Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association (MAWCA) board. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f3b420_9d1d7be5e90f450192103ea799731bae~mv2.png

• Modern Poetry - Diane Seuss (poetry) • The Dry Season - Melissa Febos • Book of Mutter - Kate Zambreno