About Matthew Van Meter

Matthew works with people whose voices have been ignored or silenced. As a reporter, he covers criminal justice stories, focusing on the experiences of people whose lives have been upended by law enforcement and corrections. And as co-facilitator and Assistant Director of Shakespeare in Prison, he supports the work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people as they use the exploration of Shakespeare's plays to empower themselves and each other.

Growing up Quaker in rural communities in the Northeast, Matthew acquired an early interest in peace and social justice. Before transitioning to work as a journalist and prison theatre facilitator, he followed in his parents' footsteps by working at high schools—he taught in Delaware, Michigan, and Moscow, Russia. He graduated from Middlebury College and Columbia University School of the Arts.

Matthew speaks Russian and lived in Russia for three years. He was a columnist for Russia Profile, an English-language news site that was shuttered by the Putin administration. There, he covered topics ranging from wealth inequality in Ukraine's rust belt to the use of abortion as Russia's primary means of contraception.

Since returning to the United States, he has thrown himself into covering the criminal justice system. His reporting has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, palabra, Texas Observer, Longreads, The Awl, and the Quaker magazine Friends Journal.

Now based in the city of Detroit, Matthew is slowly learning to play euchre, say "pop" and "inkpen," and otherwise acquire Michigan bona fides. And when he is not reporting or working at prison, he teaches at University Liggett School and College for Creative Studies. He is still a practicing Quaker.

JOURNALIST | FACILITATOR | EDUCATOR

Matthew and members of the Shakespeare in Prison men's ensemble at Parnall Correctional Facility, Jackson, Mich.

---