Matt Kessler grew up in Mobile, AL and has since called many places home, including Chicago and Los Angeles. His reporting has appeared in The Guardian and The Atlantic. His radio work has been broadcast by Mississippi Public Broadcasting and Illinois Public Media. He holds an M.F.A. in fiction from the University of Mississippi, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California.
At MacDowell, Kessler worked on the second and third sections of The Wiregrass, a true crime narrative in the tradition of David Grann and Patrick Radden Keefe. It will be published by Grand Central in the U.S. and Penguin Michael Joseph in the U.K in 2026.
