Matthew Shenoda earned his BA from Oregon State University and MFA from the University of Arizona. Former assistant provost for equity and diversity and faculty member in the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts, Shenoda currently serves as interim chair in the Creative Writing Department and associate professor in the School of Fine & Performing Arts at Columbia College Chicago. He is on the editorial board of the African Poetry Book Series and lives in Chicago with his family. He is the son of Coptic Christians, and in his work, he explores diasporic identity and pan-Arabism.