He was born in Colchester, England, and was educated at the University of York in the U.K. and at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Matthew’s poetry has appeared in various publications, including Poetry Review UK and The Antigonish Review. In 2014, he won the Straid Award for his first collection of poetry, Beetle, which follows a group of friends caught up in the Bosnian civil war. In his non-writing life, Henley works as a British diplomat. He has spent much of his career working in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Balkans. He is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He blogs at www.matthew-henley.com.