Matthew Mendoza has published fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from prison in Texas, including the chapbook, DIY Prison Project (Evening Street Press, 2024). His work has appeared in Atlanta Review, Big Muddy, and Comstock Review, among others. His plays have been performed in New York City as part of the Brooklyn Book Festival and Nylon Fusion Theatre Company. A podcast of his play, What’s Prison Like?, was produced by Open-Door Playhouse and nominated for a 2023 Webby Award. He has won awards from American Short Fiction and PEN America. Most recently, his short story, “Hinges & Runners,” was published in Thank the Bloom: 2023 PEN Prison Writing Awards. Matthew is associate editor for Evening Street Review.
Matthew Mendoza
Articles by Matthew Mendoza
What’s Prison Like?
“What? Tell me I’m lying. Fuck. I love sex, drugs, and rock & roll. It just hasn’t worked out for me.”
Meena in Captivity
Meena learned to paint elephants
roaming the savanna,
learned she couldn’t be one.
Freedom Feather
“I don’t know if inmate Sanchez turned into a bird or not. It is interesting to imagine, isn’t it, spending your life soaring where the air tastes the way it should.”
