Lou Mathews

Lou Mathews has written seven books and published three of them: Just Like James, L.A. Breakdown (a 1999 Los Angeles Times Best Book), and Shaky Town (longlisted for the Morning News's 2022 Tournament of Books). His stories have been published in ZYZZYVA, New England Review, Short Story, Black Clock, Paperback L.A., and many fiction anthologies. He has taught in UCLA Extension’s acclaimed creative writing program since 1989. Mathews is also a journalist, playwright, and passionate cook, as well as a former mechanic, street racer, and restaurant critic. He has received a Pushcart Prize and a Katherine Anne Porter Prize, as well as California Arts Commission and NEA Fiction fellowships, and is a recipient of the UCLA Extension Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Instructor awards.