Matt Simpson

Who was Matt Simpson?

Matt Simpson was a British poet and literary critic. He published six full poetry collections, and after retiring from a senior lectureship in English at Liverpool Hope University, wrote numerous books of literary criticism until his death.

Simpson was born in Bootle, Merseyside, to a working-class family with a long seafaring tradition, and educated at Bootle Grammar School. In 1955 he won a place at Cambridge, where he read English. For some years after graduating he taught English to overseas students in Cambridge, where he met his German wife, Monika Weydert, and where his two children were born. In 1964 he returned to Liverpool. During 1994 he was poet-in-residence for six months in Tasmania, and in 1996 a festschrift edited by Angela Topping was put together to celebrate his 60th birthday with contributors such as U.A. Fanthorpe, Deryn Rees-Jones, Roger McGough, Adrian Henri and John Lucas. He was a founder member and chair of the Windows Project for many years. He was also a noted children's poet, publishing two collections and appearing in hundreds of anthologies.

Simpson died in Merseyside in June 2009, of complications following a heart bypass.